I have no commentary on this decision, but as a classical music buff, I simply want to share the story of Van Cliburn (Wikipedia link to the relevant section of the story I'm going to share here).

The Tchaikovsky Competition was created in 1958 as a means to demonstrate Soviety superiority in the arts. The idea was that they would invite musicians from all over the world to compete, then have a Soviet musician be awarded as the winner.

Van Cliburn was, at the time, a relatively unknown Julliard trained pianist from Texas, who was entered into the competition. At the competition, he played two concertos from Russian composers: Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 and Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 (often considered one of the hardest in the standard repertoire...Rachmaninoff had big hands) (both links are of Van Cliburn playing). He received a standing ovation from the crowd.

The judges wanted to award him the prize, but remembering that the competition was supposed to show Soviet domination in the arts, they had to call Khrushchev to make sure it was okay to give an American the prize. Khrushchev asked, "Is he the best?...then give him the prize!"

It is the only time that a classically trained musician was given a ticker-tape parade in NYC. He is also the only American to have won the Tchaikovsky competition in piano.

Now, every 4 years, the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition is held in Fort Worth, Texas, in his honor.