most of them are older players as well, so I don't think they even have access to a tas script at all. So yeah, it's true that TAS is cheating, but the intention isn't to use TAS to complete the track, it's to showcase the ghost, doing things that might not be possible for a human

the problem with this game, is that there isn't really a way to show a tas ghost without completing the track. In other games, you could just record a video, but there's no tool to play back inputs like that, and if there were then it would be too dangerous to give to other people. You have to finish the ghost, so people always extend the time, the people who don't are the true cheaters because they are passing it off like they did it legit. The top players don't use tas to cheat

nobody accepts the runs as legit completions because they aren't being presented as legitimate completions, they are tools to experiment and show what could theoretically be achieved

and of all the people who I think know how the TAS code works and could make undetected TAS, they either 1. Don't play anymore, or 2. Are well trusted and don't abuse it. It's true that using TAS is cheating, but that's guaranteed with using an external program in the first place, there are countless other games with TAS's that are obviously cheated, but are made for demonstration purposes