posted Sep 26th, 2016 - The next aftermath story of the FAI Mondial 2016 also connects to an upcoming event, the Russian Nationals 2016.

The four Russian national teams who competed in the Formation Skydiving events at Skydive Chicago (Tanay - 8way, Black Cat - 4way Open, Infra Red Band - 4way Women, Flystation - 4way VFS) did not have much time to recover after the long trip to the U.S.A.

The Russian Formation Skydiving delegation brought home one set of bronze medals, which was claimed by the 8-way lineup from Tanay with the highest average (19.0) in team history. The Mondial average also beat the world meet average of Barkli's 8-way lineup in Prostejov 2014 (17.1) even though Barkli won the silver medals after a jump-off round with France.

FAI Mondial 2016			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		12,A,16	18,15,O	1,F,E,C	17,B,14	10,2,20	21,11,G	J,5,19	L,M,K,7	D,8,4	3,13,Q	Total	Avg
3	France	FR	21	20	30(-1)	21(-3)	18	21	27	39	21	20	238	23.8
4	Black Cat	RU	22	20(-1)	30	24(-1)	17	21	24	33(-1)	21	19	231	23.1
5	Qatar Tigers	QA	21	20	30(-1)	24	17	20	23(-1)	36	17(-2)	18	226	22.6
6	Evolution	CA	20	18	29	24	16	18	23	32	18(-1)	16(-1)	214	21.4
7	Satori XL	UK	18(-2)	19	27	24	16	18	22	30	18	18	210	21.0

FAI Mondial 2016			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open		12,A,16	18,15,O	1,F,E,C	17,B,14	10,2,20	21,11,G	J,5,19	L,M,K,7	D,8,4	3,13,Q	Total	Avg
1	Golden Knights	US	31	25	26(-1)	22	20	22	19	26	24	24(-1)	239	23.9
2	France	FR	22(-1)	20(-1)	25	18	16	19	17	23	19	20	199	19.9
3	Tanay	RU	23	19	25	17	14(-1)	16	16	21	20	19	190	19.0

The Russian situation at the Mondial was also similar to Prostejov, where Barkli competed in 4-way, as well. Black Cat (23.1 - 21.4) and Tanay (19.0 - 17.1) both outscored the Barkli teams of 2014 and still ended up with only one set of bronze medals.

Tanay had a much stronger opponent with the eight former French 8-way world champions and could not keep up with the pace for the silver medals. However, Tanay may make plans for two more years and could challenge the new French 8-way lineup for the 2nd place in 2018.

Black Cat was very close to a second set of bronze medals, as they were tied with France throughout Round 7. The 6-point difference in Round 8 was the end of the Russian quest for medals in 4-way Open.

Black Cat had three team members (Valentin Ilin, Vasily Korotkov, Evgeny Stashchenko) with double duties in 4-way and 8-way, and Vadim Niyazov was also filming both teams.

The Sun Path Products NSL News explained on September 12th that double duties in different events would be more challenging at the Mondial 2016 than at previous world meets.

Meet Director Bill "Coach" Wenger decided to run 4-way and 8-way both in 1-round turns at times, which created very short turnarounds for Germany's Airbus and Russia's Black Cat members. They told the Sun Path Products NSL News that it was very challenging and exhausting trying to deliver top performances. It was a very unfortunate result of this situation that Black Cat's Round 8 was significantly under par and allowed France to pull away for good.

The time and performance pressure at the Russian Nationals will not compare at all to the Mondial 2016, and Black Cat and Tanay will be able to enjoy much more relaxed circumstances on home turf in Tanay...