As gym nerds, we’ve heard the story about the 1968 floor exercise final. It goes something like this: “Soviet Larisa Petrik’s preliminary scores were mysteriously upgraded, enabling her to tie Věra Čáslavská for the gold medal on floor.”
Well, the story is more complicated, and the sinister undertones aren’t true. The judging scandal is a myth. Plain and simple.
Let’s take a look at what happened by looking at primary resources from the time.
