Daniela Moroz: Must fix flawed system

The Women’s Kite event at the Paris 2024 Olympics concluded on August 8 with American Daniela Moroz finishing fourth. With the top four competitors in the Finals, it was not the desirable outcome, particularly when she received a scoring penalty on the race course.

As kite races use drones and on-course umpires to address fouls without hearings, Moroz contends the race officials made a mess of the situation. In the below video, she explains how she got a scoring penalty for an incident in which she was not involved, and the officials missed another incident in which she had been fouled.

While what’s done is done, Moroz wants a review of the system. As is, umpires can make mistakes without review, as there is no opportunity to access documentation or video evidence. She finds the lack of accountability to be flawed when there is no process to correct mistakes.

“I will contend to my dying breath that I did nothing wrong,” said Moroz. “That things like this can happen show how flawed the system is, and I hope that talking about this can start a conversation about how we can make some changes. For a Medal Series to have integrity, and for it to fair, this cannot happen again.”