posted Mar 18th, 2020 - Andrey Barabash has a dream. He wants to win the FAI 8-way gold medals at the World Championship of Formation Skydiving 2020 on his home turf in Tanay, Russia.

Russia has won 8-way gold medals at world meets two times, first in Grenada 2001 and then again two years later in Gap 2003. Andrey Barabash has been a Russian Formation Skydiving competitor for a very long time, but he was not in the 8-way lineups that won the 8-way gold medals by then.

Another Russian 8-way team, Evolution Pro, continued to represent the country at world meets and world cups, followed by the Barkli 8-way team, with sponsor Leonid Kazinets in the lineup. The Russian 8-way teams after 2003 brought home several FAI medals, while the Excalibur 8-way sword for the world champion team never made it again to Russia ever since.

Leonid Kazinets stepped back after a new 2nd place finish behind the Golden Knights in Prostejov 2014. That's when Andrey Barabash made his move to continue the long and successful Russian 8-way tradition. His goal was not only another medal at a world meet. He wanted to bring home FAI gold medals and the Excalibur 8-way sword, and then engrave old and new Russian names on the trophy, including his own one.

---

TURNING POINTS: BROKEN LEG - BROKEN DREAM?

---

Andrey Barabash is a wealthy Russian industrialist, and he had the resources to sponsor a new Russian world-class 8-way team. He also owns the skydiving center in Tanay, Siberia. He is obviously a very passionate skydiver and competitor and invested heavily in his 8-way project. He also became the president of the Russian skydiving federation and sent a bid to the FAI/IPC for hosting the World Championship of Formation Skydiving 2020. He won the bid, and the world meet will take place on his home turf in Tanay.

Everything went according to his plan. He experimented a little bit with the lineups since 2015 and eventually had the one that he thought would have the potential to win this year. He hired Airspeed 4-way and 8-way legend Craig Girard in 2018, and the 2019 season became almost more successful than Andrey Barabash may have been dreaming of.

His Tanay 8-way team came to Skydive Paraclete XP in September last year to attend the USPA Nationals and upset Paraclete XP8 and Golden Knights both on their U.S. home turf. It became even better when they fended off XP8 at the re-match in Eloy a month later. Tanay 8 won the FAI gold medals at the world cup, where they also defeated the new and highly talented French 8-way team.

The victory at the USPA Nationals was not a coincidence or a surprise. Russia is ready again to win in 8-way at a world championship. The two convincing performances in the United States and the 1st places at both events added confidence naturally, and the team and coach were looking forward to the exciting 2020 season, with the world meet on home turf as the highlight.

---

USPA Nationals 2019			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open		13,16,20		C,B,M,D,1		N,Q,17,D		5,L,E,21		P,15,12		14,4,22		10,O,9		F,19,8		11,7,18		2,6,A		Total	Avg
1	Tanay 8	RU	20		23		23		19		26		21		17		16	-1	17	-1	19		201	20.1
2	XP8	US	19	-1	24		22		19		24		20		17		16	-1	17	-1	19		197	19.7
3	Golden Knights	US	18	-1	23		17	-5	18	-1	24		19	-1	16		17		18	-1	19		189	18.9
4	Arizona Airspeed	US	16	-2	21		21		17		18	-2	19	-1	16		15		15	-2	16		174	17.4
5	Amphibious Attack Tigers	US	9		13		12		12		13		9	-1	10		11		8	-2	10		107	10.7
6	SDC Rhythm 9 XP	US	12		10	-2	9	-3	10	-1	11		12		10		9		11		10		104	10.4
7	Monster Mix	US	7	-4	10		9		9		9	-1	10	-1	9		9		8		9		89	8.9
8	Perris Riot!	US	9		7	-2	8		8		8	-1	9		9		9		9		7	-1	83	8.3
9	Fusion XP	US	7		8	-1	8	-1	9	-1	9		10		6	-1	7		7	-2	9		80	8.0
10	Lite 8	US	7		4	-2	6		6		4	-1	6	-1	6		4		5		7		55	5.5

Video Footage Courtesy of USPA/OmniSkore!HD

---

Then disaster struck, when Andrey Barabash broke his leg in training in January.

What now? He is a highly experienced businessman, and he is used to be prepared for any situation with contingency plans. Tanay 8 have had an alternate from the beginning of the team project, and Andrey Barabash selected one of the most experienced Russian 8-way competitors in history, Alexey Minaev, to sit on the bench.

People were wondering why such an extremely talented and experienced competitor would not be in the active lineup. Well, exactly for that reason: if you miss one of the best you have to replace him with one of the best. If you cannot, then the performance level will drop, logically. Alexey Minaev has not only been an alternate on the registration form. He has been present in training and at each competition, quietly and patiently following the team activities.

It was a smart move by the boss to be prepared for an emergency situation - whether it would be a flu or a broken leg that would potentially hold back one of the team members. And an 8-way team, plus videographer, has twice as much the potential for an emergency than a 4-way team.

However, there is a tragic component to the most recent Russian 8-way story. It was the man with the dream, the one who put it all together and carried it almost to the finish line, Andrey Barabash himself, who now needs the alternate. Imagine the pain that you deal with if you are as passionate for what you are doing as he is, in a situation like that.

---

FAI World Cup 2019			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open		13,11,16		P,22,4		O,7,21		9,20,G		18,15,L		K,10,3		6,14,C		1,M,A,17		F,D,Q,8		2,5,E		Total	Avg
1	Tanay 8	RU	19		26		18		20		23		21	-1	20		24		20		16		207	20.7
2	France	FR	20		24		18		19	-1	21		22	-1	19		23		19		17		202	20.2
3	Paraclete XP8	US	21	-1	24	-1	16	-1	18		21		20	-2	19		22	-1	19		18		198	19.8
4	Arizona Airspeed	US	18		21		16		18		16	-3	21	-1	17		17	-1	16		14	-1	174	17.4
5	Qatar Falcons	QA	16	-1	20	-1	14	-1	13	-3	17	-1	12	-5	15		19		15		14		155	15.5
6	Airbus	DE	14	-1	15		12		15		15	-1	15		12	-1	15		14	-1	12		139	13.9
7	Monster	US	12		13	-1	10	-1	12		14		13		12		15		11	-1	10		122	12.2
8	Amphibious Attack Tigers	US	11		16		10		11		9	-3	13	-1	14		10	-1	13		11		118	11.8
9	Groomed	UK	7	-2	9		8	-1	9		10		7		8	-1	10		13		7		88	8.8

Video Footage Courtesy of USPA/OmniSkore!HD

---

What now? There is enough time to heal and recover from a broken leg, with still half a year until Round 1 in Tanay. However, the competition is extremely strong. Paraclete XP8 and France are on the heels of the world cup winner and most eager to win the 8-way competition themselves. They train a lot.

Andrey Barabash surely wants to be in the team at the world meet, how can he not? At the same time, he is the smart businessman, who wants to bring gold medals and the Excalibur 8-way sword back to Russia. Not only to Russia - the world meet takes place on his home turf, his skydiving center, and he is the president of the hosting Russian skydiving federation.

It's the hardest decision to make for the passionate competitor. It's a very big decision to make for the businessman and president. It's the decision whether the alternate Alexey Minaev shall take the slot, and the team moves on with training and competition as nothing has happened and competes for the gold medals without their biggest supporter, Andrey Barabash.

Or he comes back as soon as he has recovered enough and tries to catch up with his own team, and with XP8 and France, who will not wait until Tanay 8 is back again in full swing with Andrey Barabash.

I am glad that I don't have to make this decision. It's an extremely challenging situation with difficult options and choices and consequences. Well, Andrey Barabash is probably used to deal with crises, and he will do what will be best for his team, for Skydive Tanay, for Russia as the host, and for the Formation Skydiving world. I only hope that we will see a very strong Russian 8-way team at the world meet in August - with or without Andrey Barabash or Alexey Minaev in the lineup...