No downplaying her accomplishment here. DD is actually a closet competitor - it's funny because she is so "tactful" and "easygoing" that no one would criticize her as competitive but she is. I guess I can't really blame her, it comes from being stuck with a very high ability sibling from K and feeling the need to carve her own niche.
I agree that in the second scenario, the cycle can accelerate and become icky. However, I don't see the selfishness aspect - if she outperformed the next candidate, then that candidate needed to improve; "accolades" should not be charitable distributions.
