I rarely write about sports but this story goes well beyond athletic competition. It involves bureaucratic bungling and arrogance of a kind that many conservatives will find familiar.
So the story here is that Jordan Chiles is an Amercian gymnast who was competing for Team USA at the Olympics in Paris. Initially she was ranked 5th but it turned out one of the judges had made a mistake.
As the last competitor in the recent floor exercise final at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Chiles bounced up on her first landing, landed short on her last, and initially finished in fifth.
However, U.S. head coach Cecile Landi quickly noticed that the judges had given her a lower-than-required difficulty score. That score gives a gymnast credit for all of their attempted skills. The more difficult the routine, the higher the score.
Chiles had basically hit a three-pointer but was only given credit for…
