posted Oct 24th, 2002 - This interview with the French national coach Jerome David, who was responsible for the French Formation Skydiving sweep in Menzelinsk 2010, was published eight years before France won the four sets of gold medals (4-way Open - 4-way Women - 4-way VFS - 8-way Open) at the same event.

It also connects with the current situation in France, as national coach Mathieu Bernier is trying something that is very similar to the 2010 success. Mathieu Bernier won two gold medals in Menzelinsk 2010, and he is now trying to guide three members of his 4-way Women lineup (Christine Malnis, Sophia Pecout, Gaelle Giesen) to the same achievement by winning 4-way and 8-way gold medals in Tanay next year.

Jerome David's NSL Profile was published in 2002 and updated after the FAI World Meet 2010 in Menzelinsk, which was the last event for the French national coach. He handed over the French Formation Skydiving delegation to his successor Jeremie Rollett. Mathieu Bernier has been in charge since 2015. The interview was recorded shortly after the publication of his NSL Profile.

In his career as competitor and French national coach Jerome David collected more FAI gold medals in Formation Skydiving competition than any other competitor or coach in the history of the sport. The combination of his NSL Profile and the interview provides many insights of the French selection system and its success.

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NSL News interview with Jerome David on 24 October 2002

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NSL NEWS: Jerome, congratulations first of all for the first successful step on the way to your goal. You won the 8-way event in Spain. Did you already expect this? JEROME DAVID: Yes because I knew that both US teams were not really trained in 8-way this year. It was absolutely necessary to win to get confidence for the future, now we got it. We all know that 8-way will be more difficult next year, but we will be ready.

NSL NEWS: The Golden Knights were only four points behind, Majik Airspeed ten points. Is this also what you expected? JEROME DAVID: I think that the program in 8-way is a little different than the years before: it is slower with some "boogie" blocks. This means that averages should go down, compared with years 1997 to 1999, and it also means that points are more expensive. I think that four points in 8-way is more difficult to get than in 4-way where you can win or lose points more easily. So I'm quite happy about this score.

NSL NEWS: You saw the current world champion in 8-way, Russia, in Spain. Do you expect any competition from the Russian team next year? JEROME DAVID: Yes. Airspeed and Russia will both focus only on 8-way. There will be tough competition in 8-way by both teams. NSL NEWS: How many training jumps did your 8-way team complete before the World Cup? JEROME DAVID: 450 team jumps.

NSL NEWS: Obviously, the competition in 4-way seems to be much tighter. How is the confidence level of team France Maubeuge after finishing only third in Spain? JEROME DAVID: We would have preferred to win, that is for sure. But we are also used to lose. I don't want my team mates to forget that you always lose before you win. Our sport has now reached this step were it's a real race between several factory teams that can win or lose. This year, when simulating, we had won two times ahead of Majik and Airspeed (Shamrock Showdown and U.S. Nationals) and lost one time (Moscow). Now it was our second defeat. Most important is to know and believe that the next victory can be for us.

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FAI World Cup 2002			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		6,13,14	G,C,7,5	21,P,20	D,3,4	K,A,E,H,8	11,9,12	19,O,1	22,L,B,18	16,Q,2	N,J,10,F	Total	Avg
1	DeLand Majik	US	19	24	21	23	29	19	21	21	22	25	224	22.4
2	Airspeed Vertical	US	19	27	19	21	28	17	21	20	22	28	222	22.2
3	Perris Maubeuge	FR	17	26	23	20	26	19	21	21	23	25	221	22.1
4	DeLand Norgies	NO	19	26	20	19	29	19	19	20	20	25	216	21.6
5	Golden Knights Gold	US	18	26	20	20	27	17	19	19	21	-	187	20.8

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NSL NEWS: You had the chance to watch the Golden Knights and the Norgies at the World Cup in Spain. How strong will the resistance be by these two teams in Gap next year? JEROME DAVID: These are two teams that we've always beaten in 4-way, except last year in Japan where we had one alternate. However, I remember 1994 when the Golden Knights 8-way team had lost by more than 15 points at the World Cup in Spain. One year later in Gap, they won the 8-way world championship by two points. I don't need any more warnings! The Norgies will be also very strong. The more I think about this project, the more I think it will be impossible - and the more I love it!

NSL NEWS: In the United States people have been discussing a lot the French home advantage with the Pilatus Porter as the jump plane next year. How do you think about this issue? JEROME DAVID: In 4-way, France has won two times from Twin Otters (Eloy 1993 + Corowa 1999) and lost one time from a Porter (Gap 1995). So, I don't believe anymore in those kinds of considerations. Like we did for the World Cup in 2000 and 2002, we've not trained from Twin Otters this year to get one more year from the Porter and have 2003 in mind. Of course, this option was not very efficient for this year's world cup but should be a good thing for next year since we have already 450 jumps from a Porter.

NSL NEWS: Jerome, you just mentioned that you think the double gold seems to be impossible. You still love the challenge even if you may lose both events? There would still be enough time to change plans.... JEROME DAVID: No, because the more we will love it, the stronger we will be!

NSL NEWS: Are the team and the French federation completely behind you and your plans, no matter how the perspectives and results will be? JEROME DAVID: Yes, of course. In fact, most of us think that this is the best option for us, no matter what. NSL NEWS: The double gold has never been achieved yet. And Airspeed tried it last time with a very strong lineup. Do you think that you have a better lineup, or better support, or a better training plan? JEROME DAVID: I can't say that we have better things because I've got a great admiration for what they did. What I'm sure of is that we have a great group, and we really, really want to beat them in 8-way because we know that they will be very strong.

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FAI World Cup 2002			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open		6,13,14	G,C,7,5	21,P,20	D,3,4	K,A,E,H,8	11,9,12	19,O,1	22,L,B,18	16,Q,2	N,J,10,F	Total	Avg
1	France	FR	17	15	17	26	17	18	18	20	19	19	186	18.6
2	Golden Knights	US	15	15	17	26	16	18	16	21	19	19	182	18.2
3	Majik Airspeed	US	16	14	17	21	17	17	18	19	19	18	176	17.6
4	Russia	RU	17	11	16	17	15	16	14	12	16	18	152	15.2
5	Norway	NO	13	11	13	20	12	14	14	15	14	16	142	14.2

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NSL NEWS: We are all looking forward to this exciting competition next year. Let me ask you some questions about skydiving as a sport in general in France. Do you feel that skydiving is respected as a "real" sport? JEROME DAVID: No. For most of people, skydiving is a tandem jump, it's not a sport or a way of life.

NSL NEWS: Sounds similar to many other countries. How is the support by your government and skydiving association? JEROME DAVID: France has a specific and very efficient system to support sports in general. The government gives a great support to all sports by the way of the "Ministère de la Jeunesse et des Sports". In skydiving, the French Federation receives money from this government department for the national teams, and also to develop, control and regulate the sport. But national teams receive also money from some city and county departments, which are the local communities. All this money is called "public money". In parallel, we've got also the traditional help from "private oorganizations". Two sources of money are coming, and the FFP by the way of its national director and their national coaches is managing the national teams. This is why I think that France has a specific and efficient system.

NSL NEWS: This makes it probably easier for your athletes to be a team member. How is the status of the members of the national team? Are they paid athletes? Or do they have to work part time for their living? Or full time with paid vacation? JEROME DAVID: The status of members from "A" teams (national teams) is that they don't pay anything when they are inside a training period (cost of training - food - lodging - travel), and they get about 4.000 dollars a year from the French government and French communities (same - and often less - than in some other sports in France). This is not enough to survive, of course. So between camps they organize their lives as they want to. Some are coaching, others are working on DZs or "private" schools - most of my juniors are still studying.

NSL NEWS: Thank you very much for this very interesting information, Jerome. I remember that you have "farm teams" with talented juniors. How much are you, as the national coach, working directly with them? JEROME DAVID: In two weeks, I will organize a trial for the future French female 4-way team. With this team, I will finally have four 4-way teams to look after, and one 8-way team. I can do that because all those groups are working in complete and total synergy. This creates energy and motivation for everybody.

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FAI World Meet 2010			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		10,7,12	3,11,5	J,M,Q,P,L	19,1,13	N,18,20	K,17,8	2,15,H	4,D,6	O,E,9,G	22,B,16	Total	Avg
1	Aerodyne Aerokart	FR	21	22	56	20	22	24	22	24	40	26	277	27.7
2	Arizona Airspeed	US	22	21	53	23	20	24	23	25	40	23	274	27.4
3	Sky Panthers Barkli	RU	19	21	56	21	19	21	23	22	41	21	264	26.4
Rank	8-way Open		3,21,N	6,20,9	E,G,17,5	K,16,2	12,C,22	B,D,M,1	7,15,J	13,L,P,11	4,18,O	10,14,19	Total	Avg
1	France	FR	25	19	16	21	22	25	18	19	23	15	203	20.3
2	Golden Knights	US	23	17	18	20	22	27	20	17	21	11	196	19.6
3	Barkli	RU	20	19	16	17	22	20	18	19	20	14	185	18.5
Rank	4-way Women		10,7,12	3,11,5	J,M,Q,P,L	19,1,13	N,18,20	K,17,8	2,15,H	4,D,6	O,E,9,G	22,B,16	Total	Avg
1	Aerokart Deep Blue Maubeuge	FR	20	19	47	18	19	20	21	21	32	19	236	23.6
2	Team Bodyflight	UK	16	17	44	17	17	19	18	19	30	19	216	21.6
3	Spaceland Blue	US	17	14	38	15	16	15	17	15	29	12	188	18.8

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NSL NEWS: It sounds like a full-time job for you. Are you employed and paid by the government? JEROME DAVID: That's a nice and full-time job like yours. It is also very exciting to do very different things every day, along and depending on the different period of the year. I am paid by the French government and put at the disposal of the FFP as the national coach.

NSL NEWS: I wish the government paid me for my nice full-time job. Jerome, you have a growing family at home, do you have to travel a lot for your job? JEROME DAVID: Yes, of course. Especially when I don't have the right jump plane at the right place, or the good weather at the right period. But this is the destiny of all top competitors in skydiving. During the last 12 years, I did not spend more than two weeks a month at home. This is a real problem when you want a family. And that's the main reason why, since two years, I've reduced my time on the DZs close to my teams very efficiently. I had to find new procedures of coaching and I'm quite happy about the results.

NSL NEWS: You used to train in Perris in the previous years. Are you again planning winter training in California? JEROME DAVID: We have spent five wonderful years in Perris. For all of us, those years were very strange since we all had two lives: two weeks in Perris, two weeks in France. Perris is a very cool DZ and we've experienced crazy situations. We will never forget Melanie Conatser and her Perris Passion girls, and all the friends there, hellos to all of them. However, for next winter, we'll stay in Europe.

NSL NEWS: Jerome, are you still jumping enough? Are you still the alternate for your teams? JEROME DAVID: I used to be the alternate until last year at the World Games. But since October 2001, I have not jumped. The reason is only that I don't have time to jump when I work, and that I’ve got other points of interests when I don't work. But I will jump again one day, of course. NSL NEWS: Good luck with everything, Jerome. And thank you very much for this interview.