A win you cheated for is a trophy you can’t stand to look at.

Cheating gets the result and removes the only thing the result was for. The point of winning is the private knowledge that you could, and a shortcut destroys exactly that, so you are left holding the object with none of the feeling attached. Everyone else believes it. You are the one person who cannot.

If you are near that line, ask whether you want the outcome or the proof. If it is the proof, no version of the shortcut delivers it, and a real second place is worth more than a first you have to avoid thinking about.