?Transparency Please?: Dispute Over USA?s 19-Year-Old Prodigy?s Score Leaves Americans Demanding Fair Answer at World Artistic Gymnastics Championships 2023

The men’s team finals are currently underway at the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championship. After the qualification ended with a snap, the world audience is still having a hangover of the incredible day. Team USA, with an all-round team score of 254.628, was right behind Japan. On October 4, as the team’s final round commenced, top-tier gymnasts stepped foot to shine on their signature routines. Among them, a 19-year-old American gymnast, known for his indomitable spirit, faced a little challenge this time.

Fred Richard, the 2021 and 2022 Junior Pan American Champion, graced the pommel horse routine like a pro. However, Richard-verse is not content with the scores or the administration’s decision.

Richard left the Gymnastics world with concern

USA Gymnastics took to their ‘X handle to post a worrisome update regarding Richard’s pommel horse scores. The post reads, “An inquiry has been submitted.” Moreover, this statement was posted as a response to a video showcasing Fred’s performance. The original video boasted Richard at his best, pulling off brilliant rotations back to back. But his scores stood at a disappointing 12.500, which didn’t look justified, as per sources.

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That’s where the fans showed displeasure. According to them, the 19-year-old artistic gymnast was too good for a score like that. Raising several allegations of the biased judgment system, the need for an inquiry pleased them. They unabashedly commented, “transparency please,”?demanding a justified reason for the scores presented.

Fans react to Fred’s low scores

Unable to hold on to their horses, the fans jumped in with their various explanations. One fan applauded Richard’s exhibit, but the scores disappointed her. She wrote, “Good, the score was too low. “ After ‘Good”, the fan added some clapping emojis to affirm her praise. Another fan looked rather infuriated at the gradual D-score drop. She said, “please somebody explain to me what got dropped from Fred Richard?s D score, because that routine looked really good and it otherwise just makes the judges look racist. Transparency please.”

One fan was just an inch away to curse the judges’ panel for such a biased marking. In addition, she wrote, “Yikes, Fred Richard only gets a 12.500 on pommel horse with a 4.8 D score. His D was 5.7 in qualifying.” On the other hand, one user queried about his difficulty level achievement. He went on to write, “I was wondering what happened. Did he not get his full difficulty?”

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As the men had quite rocked the stage, the women are yet to set sail. On October 4, the gymnastic-verse awaits the brilliant women, clad in pretty leotards, taking flips. The event is continuing till Sunday, October 8.