This season we have seen literally hundreds of 10.0s flashed from at least one judge, which could be attributed to an increase in the caliber of NCAA gymnastics, as well as judges becoming increasingly forgiving of the small errors they either overlook or disregard. As a former NCAA judge, I can understand the pressures of seeing maybe two half-tenth deductions for flexed feet and wondering, “Were they really flexed?” as the entire arena chants for a “10!” No one wants to be the judge to disappoint thousands of spectators in the stands and at home.
On the flip side, judges may take a deduction that might not be there for fear of giving a 10 on an obviously not-10 routine, even if their notes say otherwise. Even if the judge didn’t have any deductions on the paper, they had to have missed something, right? Maybe going 9.950 just in case is the safer bet.
Unfortunately, this pressure is what NCAA judges signed up for, and I commend those judges that confidently flash the score from an appropriately evaluated routine, even if it’s unpopular. In this article, we’ll take another look at some of those near-perfect 9.975s to see which judge was correct in their assessment.
Vault
Chase Brock (LSU)
Yurchenko one and a half
