posted Mar 10th, 2014 - It was not a surprise after the results at the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2014 that the 8way competition between Golden Knights and Venturi at the Paraclete XP Outdoor Championship 2014 would not be a thriller.

Both teams knew before meeting in Raeford and DeLand that the Golden Knights would be far ahead of the French national team with the new lineup. Only one French team member came back with world meet experience. Thomas Perrin Gachadoat won an 8way gold medal for France in Menzelinsk 2010 and silver at the Mondial Dubai 2012.

All other Venturi members are young French competitors who were recruited from the national B-Teams of the past years. Most of them had one year of 8way preparations with an 8way B-Team that trained throughout the 2013 season and finished with a 16.0 average last year at the World Cup in Banja Luka.

Paraclete XP Indoor 2014		Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	8way Open Class	F,8,N,P	19,17,E	10,11,6	22,L,16	Q,9,H,G	D,15,1	7,J,M,2	5,B,13	4,18,12	C,3,A,O	Total	Avg
1	Golden Knights (US)	28	24	24	39	32	39	26	24	28	43	307	30.7
2	Paraclete XP8 (US)	27	24	26	35	27	37	24	23	33	40	296	29.6
3	Venturi (FR)	22	20	23	29	27	28	24	21	26	34	254	25.4

Charles Rommel, Matthieu Despres, Kevin Manson, Nicolas David, Antoine Leleu and Mathieu Cannesson were finally lined up with Thomas Perrin Gachadoat, while Michel Laynaud is filming the team this year, as well.

The French 2014 lineup has one new team member, who was selected by national coach Jeremie Rollett at the end of the 2013 season, and this selection was a very special one. Anais Maillet was the alternate for the Aerodyne French Girls last year and now has her slot in the French national 8way team.

It is a special selection since France has never had yet a female team member in any of the 8way lineups. The situation has been the same for the Golden Knights and the Russian national 8way teams, while Eliana Rodriguez was the first woman to win an 8way medal. It was gold for Arizona Airspeed and the USA in 2004. Anais Maillet could become the first French female 8way competitor winning a world meet medal.

Paraclete XP Outdoor 2014		Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	8way Open Class	18,2,O	D,19,22	G,C,P,10	9,A,L,H	K,16,B,Q	7,4,21	11,15,F	M,3,E,8	6,1,17	20,12,J	Total	Avg
1	Golden Knights (US)	18	19	23	21	30	20	23	23	22	16	215	21.5
2	Venturi (FR)	11	12	15	13	19	14	19	15	15	14	147	14.7

It is quite unlikely that Anais Maillet will copy Eliana Rodriguez' success of 2004. The Golden Knights are far ahead of all other 8way teams in the world and don't seem to have any serious competition for this year's gold medals.

French national coach Jeremie Rollett has set his 8way goals for a longer time period and wants to go after the gold again in 2016. He will probably be happy to be in contention for the silver medals with the new lineup this year, as Barkli's Russian 8way lineup is always able to post scores around the 20-average level.

The Golden Knights are mostly competing with their own numbers this year. The 22.9 average of 2012 is the standing record number in 8way, and there is still the open business with the 31-pointer of 1997. The 30-pointer in Round 5 last weekend (K,16,B,Q) was as close as can be, and the world record for a single round will probably fall this year. Judge Eric Heinsheimer watched and judged another challenge of his own record, and he came out clean again as the reigning world record holder...