posted Mar 18th, 2022 - The careers of Matt Davidson and Craig Girard have been topics for the NSL News as long as SKYLEAGUE.COM has brought Formation Skydiving competition to the online audience. In fact, Matt Davidson won his first world championship gold medal with the Golden Knights just when the Florida Skydiving League was launched in 1997 and before the National Skydiving League started in 1998, Craig Girard even much earlier.

The NSL News explained on 3 December 2019 how Matt Davidson alone had the unique opportunity to complete his own "Decade of 8-way Excellence" that the Golden Knights claimed with six consecutive FAI 8-way world meet gold medals between 1987 and 1997.

Matt Davidson won his first 8-way gold medal with the Golden Knights when the first "Decade of 8-way Excellence" came to its end after Turkey 1997. Arizona Airspeed, with Craig Girard's leadership, took the 8-way top spot in the United States, and the Golden Knights had their 8-way comeback when Brian "BK" Krause took the team captain position in 2009.

The new lineup, once again with Matt Davidson in the lineup, needed three years until they won the next FAI 8-way gold medals in Dubai 2012, which was the beginning of the next time period of Golden Knights 8-way dominance. The U.S. Army team and Matt Davidson added four more FAI gold medals to their collection before a new Paraclete XP8 lineup brought this series to an end at the USPA Nationals 2019.

---

Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2022			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open		22,12,9	H,4,15	F,13,J,16	L,N,B,1	8,19,E	21,C,2	M,3,Q,D	O,11,G,18	K,5,17	10,7,A	Total	Avg
1	XP8	US	28	40	31	40	21	23	42	26	25	26	302	30.2
2	Qatar Falcons	QA	20	34	26	34	20	20	35	25	23	21	258	25.8
3	Prison 9	US	21	27	19	30	15	15	28	19	20	17	211	21.1
4	Veloce QRF	FR	19	21	17	28	16	16	28	18	20	18	201	20.1
5	Veloce QRF 2	FR	16	19	16	20	12	14	22	15	14	14	162	16.2
5	Fusion XP	US	14	21	18	15	13	12	20	18	15	16	162	16.2
7	Veloce QRF 3	FR	15	19	16	18	12	13	23	15	15	14	160	16.0
8	Rhockalaka	US	16	18	14	17	12	14	20	13	13	13	150	15.0
9	Brandon's Friend's Team	US	13	18	13	18	10	13	16	15	14	13	143	14.3
10	They're Grrr8!	US	11	15	12	15	9	11	15	12	14	10	124	12.4
11	Veloce QRF 5	FR	11	12	13	15	10	9	16	13	10	13	122	12.2
12	Veloce QRF 4	FR	12	13	12	15	9	10	15	11	12	12	121	12.1

---

First competition together: Craig Girard and Matt Davidson with XP8

---

The end of his U.S. Army commitment had come for Matt Davidson anyway, while he was not done at all with Formation Skydiving competition. Other former Golden Knights members (Craig Girard, Brian Krause) before had switched to civilian training and competition when their military career came to an end.

He spent the months before the USPA Nationals 2019 with Arizona Airspeed, who needed a replacement for Ari Perelman, and brought in his own 4-way experiences with the Golden Knights Gold in 2004 - 2005, then again in 2008 - 2012 and 2016 - 2019. The Airspeed emergency lineup almost made it, after only a few months of training and before loosing the dramatic jump-off finish against SDC Rhythm XP.

John D'Annunzio and his new Paraclete XP8 lineup had already invited Matt Davidson to join their own pursuit of 8-way gold medals at the FAI Tanay Mondial 2020. Matt Davidson agreed and committed to the plans, while his necessary hip surgery was still ahead of him. He was planning to bridge the time period until after the world meet with cortisone injections to control inflammation and pain well enough and make it through the world meet in 2020.

---

---

Matt Davidson in his recovery period

---

The new Paraclete XP8 lineup started with training for the FAI Tanay Mondial 2020 after the USPA Nationals 2019. Then the cancellation and rescheduling of the outdoor world meet seemed to fit well for the time that Matt Davidson needed for the recovery. XP8 had enough time to patiently wait for Matt Davidson and his recovery from the hip surgery.

Matt Davidson had an 8-way comeback at the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2020, and his new XP8 team won with a 31.3 average. He was now back together with his former Golden Knights world champion team mate Brian Krause.

The recovery from the hip surgery in August 2020 took longer than expected, and he needed more time to get ready for outdoor training and competition. He was back again with XP8 at the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2021, this time with a 31.5 average, and he completed the four outdoor rounds at the Shamrock Showdown 2021.

Unfortunately, his outdoor comeback was interrupted once again, and he had to step back just a few months before XP8 would win the FAI 8-way gold medals in Tanay last August. Airspeed member Christopher Kuhlmann stepped in for him at the last minute and came back from Russia as an 8-way world champion. The same lineup then won the 8-way competition at the USPA Nationals 2021 and qualified for the next world meet.

The 8-way competition at the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2022 was the third comeback for Matt Davidson, this time with the complete 2022 lineup, including newest XP8 member Craig Girard. Three former Golden Knights and Kirk Verner are now the backbone for the other recently crowned 8-way world champions (Jeana Billings, Michelle Karamon, John D'Annunzio, Elliot Byrd on camera). Only former Rhythm member Andrew Happick still has to win his first FAI gold medal. He surely has a great opportunity this year in Eloy. Matt Davidson and Craig Girard could win their first 8-way gold medal together, which would be the 6th one for both.