I'll ask some questions this time around: Was this kids final glide decision safe or unsafe? Is successfully pulling off this kind of low finish fun or too risky? Is it a good thing for the sport of soaring or is it a bad thing? Is it good for soaring in the USA? Is it good for growing US contest participation or bad? Etc.
Sean, I think your answer lies in another question to the community. It is,
1) Are you (a current or potential contestant) willing to execute the sort of finish shown in the videos in a contest?
2) If the answer is NO, would you accept pilots executing this sort of approach on a given day in order to earn speed points, whereas you would only earn distance points for executing a safe landout?
There is a large contingent of pilots that reasonably thinks that if you make it to the airport property, you should earn your speed points. However, for other pilots who are not willing to execute a marginal final glide like that, in some ways it is unfair to them that someone can "out-crazy" them and do better in the contest.
Consider this as well, while a pilot may answer Yes to first question I presented, maybe even a majority, it is not good for the community or the sport when someone gets killed doing this, or worse yet unexpectedly kills some poor guy on the ground while attempting this sort of final glide. As a result, I think the most prudent decision would be to have a finish that leaves abundant energy for a full pattern without attempting this sort of stuff shown in the videos, as exhilarating as it may be for some pilots. Leave the dicey final glides, VNE starts, low passes after finishes, etc to Condor.
Best Regards,
Daniel Sazhin