posted Aug 11th, 2003 - The next NSL News interview from the archives brings back once again DeLand Majik's world champion inside center Doug Park, who won his FAI 4-way gold medal in 2004. The previous interview with him was published on June 13th, and it had taken place almost a whole year earlier. DeLand Majik had missed the qualification for the next world meet at the USPA Nationals 2002 and redeemed themselves at the FAI World Cup a month later.

DeLand Majik would not compete at the FAI World Meet 2003 and traveled to Russia instead, where they won the Malevsky Memorial Cup a month before the world meet. Sinapsi PD competed in Stupino, as well, before the next world meet trip to Gap in France. The Russian national 4-way team of 2003, Wild Wind, also attended both events.

The Sky Panthers were actually the best Russian team at the Malevsky Cup 2003. However, the team members were preparing for their 8-way competition at the world meet in Gap, where they won the gold medals after the 11-round battle with Arizona Airspeed. Some of the 2003 world champions are still in the current Tanay lineup and will try to win their next gold medals at the FAI Mondial next year.

Doug Park's impressions after coming back from the Malevsky Cup were related to the Russian host who presented a first-class event. Russia is hosting her second world meet next year, after the Menzelinsk event in 2010. The Malevsky Memorial Cup became an annual event in Stupino until 2007.

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NSL News interview with DeLand Majik member Doug Park on 11 August 2003

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NSL NEWS: Doug, how was the Russian vodka this year? DOUG PARK: It was very good and very abundant. NSL NEWS: How do the Russians celebrate besides the vodka? DOUG PARK: We had a great party, a big banquet with a disc jockey plus four singers, about 3,000 people and the Russian demonstration flight team, like the Blue Angels. The Russians love to party and to entertain.

NSL NEWS: Did this all happen after the event was over? DOUG PARK: That was the awards ceremony. NSL NEWS: How was the meet management throughout the competition? DOUG PARK: Andrey, the meet director and a good Majik friend did a great job on all fronts, even in the sky with us. He managed everything from doing tandems to coordinating the competition. The meet ran very smoothly and quickly.

NSL NEWS: Which plane did you jump? DOUG PARK: We jumped a Turbolet 410 with a left door, which is narrower than a Twinotter and a little bit taller.

NSL NEWS: Doug, lets get to the athletic part. Were you happy with Majik's performance in Russia? DOUG PARK: Winning made me happy, but I think that having Solly's gear not arrive until the day we left presented some new challenges. Majik fell pretty slow. Solly had to borrow a bright red jump suit and a bright green gear that made him fall faster and made the pictures look very different. The rest of the team was wearing weights to keep up with the fall rate. I felt that we were off the pace a little bit.

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Malevsky Memorial Cup 2003			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		10,4,16	3,P,D,7	2,19,A	17,G,22	F,O,Q,H,6	N,12,E,20	14,8,M	L,C,18,5	15,K,21	J,1,13	Total	Avg
1	DeLand Majik	US	18	24	21	18	31	20	18	21	20	19	210	21.0
2	Sinapsi PD	IT	18	24	18	16	32	18	17	21	19	18	201	20.1
3	Sky Panthers	RU	18	20	20	21	29	20	15	21	18	18	200	20.0
4	Wild Wind Kuzbass	RU	14	22	13	19	23	15	15	19	16	14	170	17.0
5	Kolomna QuikBlu	RU	15	18	15	16	24	15	13	17	16	15	164	16.4
6	Extreme.RU	RU	14	22	18	14	23	16	13	18	13	-	151	16.8
7	Ladybirds	RU	11	15	13	10	9	11	10	9	8	10	106	10.6

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NSL NEWS: How did Sinapsi PD deal with the left-hand door? DOUG PARK: Sinapsi did a great job. However, they did struggle a little bit with some exits.

NSL NEWS: The Russian team Sky Panthers was only one point behind Italy. Was Sinapsi scoring below capability, or were the Russians so sharp? DOUG PARK: The Russians had a good meet and had some of their best jumps. Sinapsi was a little bit off their game but skydived some rounds very well.

NSL NEWS: Sinapsi beat Majik in one round. Were you surprised? DOUG PARK: No, I was not surprised. Right now, we were just starting to re-do Block 6 (Stardian – Stardian). And Sinapsi is very good with that block. We were also very close to the next point, just by a frame.

NSL NEWS: The Sky Panthers beat Majik in Round 4, was that a surprise? DOUG PARK: It did surprise us. The Sky Panthers were having a great meet. We had a separation penalty in Round 4. And we took memory for the rear piece. Most of the memory goes to the front piece in our plan.

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FAI World Meet 2003			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		1,11,12	M,J,E,10	K,16,6	13,14,5	D,22,4	9,C,Q,N	F,19,21	2,20,L	18,B,3	8,P,7	Total	Avg
1	Maubeuge	FR	16	26	23	19	21	37	24	21	19	23	229	22.9
2	Golden Knights	US	17	24	22	19	18	35	22	18	19	20	214	21.4
3	DeLand Norgies	NO	13	24	21	19	18	36	19	16	19	21	206	20.6
4	Sebastian XL	UK	14	22	21	19	17	34	21	18	19	20	205	20.5
5	Sinapsi PD	IT	13	24	22	17	17	32	22	18	18	-	183	20.3
6	Endeavour	CH	13	21	19	15	17	29	21	17	16	-	168	18.7
7	NMPV	BE	15	19	19	16	15	29	19	16	16	-	164	18.2
8	EADS	DE	14	19	17	15	15	26	17	16	16	-	155	17.2
9	Wild Wind	RU	15	22	18	15	18	22	17	8	-	-	135	16.9

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NSL NEWS: The Sky Panthers are not the Russian national team. Wild Wind will compete at the world meet. What happened to Wild Wind at this meet? DOUG PARK: They jumped with their sponsor throughout the Malevsky Memorial Cup, except for two rounds. NSL NEWS: How is the Russian 4-way competition in general?

DOUG PARK: Russian 4-way is becoming very competitive with many former members of the 4-way and 8-way national teams taking player-coaching positions. NSL NEWS: Did you hear anything about the Russian 8-way team? DOUG PARK: Most members of the gold medal team in Spain are now back together and are training hard for this year's world meet.

NSL NEWS: How much do they train? DOUG PARK: They just finished a two-week camp when we got there. This Monday, they are on their way to Spain for two weeks Porter training. I believe that the team will be very strong, and I am looking forward to seeing their results in France.

NSL NEWS: Do you see Wild Wind as an additional medal contender in 4-way? DOUG PARK: I think they belong to the top six teams. This year's world meet will be very strong. NSL NEWS: Are you sad that Majik will not be competing in Gap? DOUG PARK: Yes. Majik and myself will be there anyway for coaching though. Of course, we would much rather be there as competitors.

NSL NEWS: Give me the top five at the world meet. DOUG PARK: DeLand Norgies, Golden Knights, France Maubeuge, Sinapsi PD, Sebastian XL, and this is not not in placing order. NSL NEWS: Alright, now in placing order. DOUG PARK: Majik first. NSL NEWS: And then? DOUG PARK: I do not want to predict the order. But I think that the French team has an advantage due to their home turf and exits from the Porter. They are jumping in their own country for the gold medal. However, the top five teams have all trained extremely hard. Any given day any of the top teams can win.

NSL NEWS: Let's wrap up Russia. What would you think about the whole event? DOUG PARK: Russia is an incredible country with an incredible drop zone that rivals the larger skydiving centers in the U.S.A. The closing ceremony looked and felt like a rock concert. Nothing has been like this before. From tours in Moscow to chopper rides to go swimming - it was great. Majik looks forward to go again next year. NSL NEWS: Thank you, Doug.