You bring up an interesting point -- the MWC Challenge -- which I have been wondering, but maybe not in the same way that you are. I've been wondering if Medium writers are ticked off because it seems they threw out the guidelines by giving the highest reward to someone who a) doesn't have much presence on Medium, and b) clearly didn't follow the guidelines. It's a slap in the face. I've been wondering if Medium writers are re-thinking whether this is really a good place to be if the award winners can't even be honest. Just my thoughts though.