A scoring controversy? For me? Oh, you shouldn’t have!
Fortunately, after a meet of flat, uninspiring gymnastics, a scoring controversy has broken out to give us all something to talk about. Throughout the meet, scores were noticeably lower than they have been at Utah all season. I thought they were actually quite fair and reflected the level of scrutiny I would like to see from judges in the postseason. No one will talk about that, though, because of the issue regarding Stephanie McAllister’s start value on floor.
Individual video of the routine in question is not currently available, but you can view the whole meet here. McAllister’s routine begins around 1:44:20.
The Salt Lake Tribune provides an account of the controversy, noting that the judges bumped down McAllister’s start value (they gave her 9.8) because she lacked a leap passage beginning on one foot. Meg Marsden says that she already received the OK from Linda Fenton for McAllister’s routine.
Greg Marsden gets a special A+ from me for also receiving a yellow card during the meet (though his card was for walking by the judges, which is the lamest reason for anything ever).