posted Jun 29th, 2021 - The story of Germany's Formation Skydiving competition delegation for the FAI Tanay Mondial 2020 began naturally with the qualification for the slots in 4-way Open, 8-way Open and 4-way Women at the German Outdoor Nationals 2019.

Oceanside AtomiX (4-way Open), Airbus (8-way Open) and Skynamite (4-way Women) won the respective qualifications at the national championships. AtomiX won their first national 4-way title, while Airbus and Skynamite defended their status successfully.

The Airbus 8-way team and Skynamite traveled to Arizona a few months later and competed at the FAI Outdoor World Cup 2019 for Germany.

Then the corona virus pandemic brought a hold to all skydiving events, including the cancellation of the German Nationals 2020 and the rescheduling of the FAI Tanay Mondial 2020. The German skydiving federation (DFV) sanctioned the same three teams for the new date of the FAI Tanay Mondial 2020 in August this year, and the preparations began.

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German Outdoor Nationals 2019		1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open	E,G,M,2		B,4,1		9,K,L,O		13,15,14		22,16,3		21,6,D		5,J,12		P,17,7		10,H,C,11		8,F,19		Total	Avg
1	Oceanside AtomiX	26		19		26	-1	15	-1	15		17		19		24		18		16		195	19.5
2	Airbus	22		18	-1	28		15		14	-1	15	-2	18		21		16	-1	19		186	18.6
3	Dark Energy	18	-2	14		20		11		13		16		14		17		13		14		150	15.0
4	Bardarbunga 2.0	20		14		22		13		8	-5	11	-2	14		17		13		16		148	14.8
5	Skynamite	18		14		17		11		11		14		12	-1	17		12	-1	14		140	14.0
6	NeVa FSZ Saar	19		14		15	-2	10		11		13		13		15		11		14		135	13.5
7	HorschD FSZ Saar	18		12		14		10		10		12		10		9	-2	11		11		117	11.7
8	Join Up	13	-1	13		15	-1	11		7	-2	12		10	-1	14		10	-1	11		116	11.6
9	Airgrips	10	-1	9		13		5	-1	7		10		8		9	-1	10		9	-1	90	9.0
10	4Motion	10		9		13		8		7		8		3	-1	9		6	-1	9		82	8.2
Rank	8-way Open	E,G,M,2		B,4,1		9,K,L,O		13,15,14		22,16,3		21,6,D		5,J,12		P,17,7		10,H,C,11		8,F,19		Total	Avg
1	Qatar Falcons	16	-1	24		16		14		20		14		14		14	-1	16		13		161	16.1
2	Airbus 8-way Illertissen	14		18	-1	14		13		17		13		14		14		11	-2	11	-1	139	13.9
3	Veloce QRF	12	-2	17		14		11		17		11		12		13		11		11		129	12.9
4	Coriolis	6		9		8		7		8		7		5	-2	7		7		6		70	7.0
5	Luftschl8	7		8		7	-1	5	-2	6		5	-1	6		6		4		6		60	6.0
6	MeightO Meissendorf	5		7		6		6		5		4		6		6		4		4		53	5.3

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The first change of the original plan happened when Oceanside AtomiX canceled their trip to Russia, as the NSL News reported on May 24th. The German skydiving federation reacted quickly by sanctioning the runner-up, Airbus Illertissen, as the substitute national team in 4-way Open.

The German delegation for the FAI Tanay Mondial 2020 still suffered another setback when national coach Robert Trögele informed the NSL News that no German team will compete in 4-way Women in Russia.

The NSL News reported just a few days later on May 26th that Germany had no qualified and eligible 4-way Women team in the delegation for the FAI event.

However, both Airbus teams were ready to compete for Germany at the FAI Tanay 2020 in August. Outdoor and indoor training were possible again, and the Paranodon Cup 2021 became Germany's restart of 4-way outdoor competition at the beginning of June.

Germany had pre-registered the two teams in 4-way Open and 8-way Open, and the official registration deadline for all delegations and participants was June 25th.

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FAI Outdoor 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
Rank	4-way Women		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	Aerodyne Weembi Girls	FR	17		19		25		20		20		19		20		23		25	-1	21		209	20.9
2	NFTO	UK	17		17		23		19	-1	17		17		19		21		23	-1	20		193	19.3
3	Phoenix XP	US	13		13		17		14		13		12	-1	14		17		18	-1	14		145	14.5
4	Skynamite	DE	13		12		18		16		11	-2	13		13		15	-1	16	-3	16		143	14.3
5	SNE Fly Girls	US	11		11	-1	15	-1	14		11		12		13		14	-1	16		12		129	12.9
6	Victorious Secret	US	9		11	-1	14		10	-2	11		11		12		16	-1	14		14		122	12.2
7	Alola	UK	9	-1	10	-2	13		10	-1	9	-1	9	-1	9	-1	12	-1	16		11		108	10.8

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Both Airbus teams had their own team meetings right before the June 25 registration deadline to discuss the current situation and the circumstances after the recent crash of a L-410 Turbolet jump plane in Tanay. The International Skydiving Commision (ISC) had informed the delegations that "substitute aircraft have been ordered and organization is going ahead as planned".

The combination of Covid-19 requirements and guidelines to participate in the event and the jump plane situation in Tanay were the main topics for the discussion, not only for the two German teams. The German skydiving federation did not cancel the event officially and left the final decision in the hands of the Airbus teams.

The conclusion of the team meetings were the same for both German teams. They decided to cancel their trips to Russia in August.

Germany will not be represented at all in the three Formation Skydiving competition events and will miss a world meet in 4-way Open for the first time. Only teams who are officially registered at this point in time will be able to compete at the FAI Tanay Mondial 2020.