There were four perfect 10s at the NCAA national championship. What makes these 10s extra special is that instead of having to convince two judges that the routine was perfect, these athletes had to convince four out of six judges that the routine was flawless, theoretically making it harder to achieve perfection.
All of these tens were iconic: Thomas’s was her final vault of her career and tied the career 10.0 record; O’Keefe’s secured her the national beam and all-around title; and Chiles won the national uneven bar title. O’Keefe’s second 10.0 during the national team finals was her 10th career 10.0 on beam, and she may hold the record for career 10.0s on beam, though there is some data missing for early competitors. Although the judges do not change between semifinals and team finals, they do switch events, so a completely different set of six judges scored her at a 10.0 between the semifinals and the finals.
Although the panel may have seen perfection, there were some errors in these routines. Here I’ll break down the deductions I saw when watching the videos in real time, and rank the 10.0 from one to five stars. As a reminder, here’s my rating scale:
⭐ This was clearly not a 10.0 routine (but still very good!)
⭐⭐ There was definitely a deduction…
