On some of these stages, she shoots it DA and some she racks the slide at the start. Could it be that they started off certain stages without one in the chamber? Hopefully the IPSC guys here will know.
That was my thought after the first one but they sure as heck didn't have that many mag in, chamber empty starts. Maybe Slavex will chime in, he's shot with her enough he'd know her routines.
As far as the rules I am not an RO but Appendix D4 #15 states:
"Handguns with external hammers must be fully decocked (see Rule 8.1.2.5), at the Start Signal. First shot
attempted must be double action. Competitors in this Division who, after the issuance of the Start Signal and
prior to attempting the first shot, #### the hammer on a handgun which has a loaded chamber, will incur one
procedural penalty per occurrence. Note that a procedural penalty will not be assessed in respect of courses of
fire where the ready condition requires the competitor to prepare the handgun with an empty chamber. In these
cases, the competitor may fire the first shot single action."
Based on that I would interpret it to be a procedural and I still can't imagine a competitor of her caliber is giving away penalties so there is likely another explanation. Unless there is a loophole that as long as she didn't chamber a round at load & make ready since there is no loaded chamber?