I am glad there was a review and follow up. It’s good to see organizing bodies working to ensure the integrity of events and the resulting scores.
I remember how muck flack @Horton got for questioning scores that summer. I remember posting this, and hope others find that it’s ok to be in camp 2.
Post July 2018
Upon learning of extraordinary scores from any event, I expect most peoples responses to fall in one of the following three camps:
1) Great Job and congrats!
2) Really? Are we sure?
3) No way, I don’t buy it, didn’t happen, I don't need evidence
Of course we all have the right to choose our camp. Debating which camp is the right one is futile. The part about this that bothers me is those that insist 1) is right 2) is rude and 3) is just flat out wrong. I am in camp 2) and think about it like this:
Were the scores possible? Yes.
Were the scores exceptional? Yes.
Did they happen in sanctioned events? Yes.
Is it still possible something was amiss? Yes.
Are the scores valid unless proven otherwise? Absolutely.
Is it reasonable to question the exceptional results? I think yes.
This said, we should be carefull from keyboards thousands of miles away and leave it to the hardworking officials of the events. But, if we as members of the community don’t maintain a culture where its ok to question results, the integrity of scores and records will be at risk.