Is it a problem because there’s only one winner or because there’s no full ranking system. US systems are different from Asian systems in that they smear scores

Is it a problem because there’s only one winner or because there’s no full ranking system. US systems are different from Asian systems in that they smear scores using Grades and then make that more “precise” (not in a significant digits sense) by turning that into a GPA. If you have full scores throughout then you have greater dynamic range and even if you aren’t first, you can still be third and happy.