posted Aug 19th, 2022 - The recent NSL Live Talk with four members of the Paraclete XP8 team (Jeana Billings, Michelle Karamon, Kirk Verner, Craig Girard) was exclusively covering the upcoming 4-way/8-way double-duty challenge at this year's FAI World Championships of Formation Skydiving.

It is needless to point out once again how difficult it is to master this challenge, as the reigning XP8 world champions and other world class competitors in the past have tried to explain the enormous pressure that has to be dealt with at the same event.

The conversation went naturally back to the double-gold challenges in the past, and the most recent one took place at the FAI Tanay Mondial in August last year. Jeana Billings and Michelle Karamon witnessed in Tanay how three members of the French 4-way Women team (Sophia Pecout, Christimne Malnis, Gaelle Giesen) tried to win two gold medals at the same event.

Their coach and 8-way team mate Mathieu Bernier was the only person in history with the successful experience of double-gold in Menzelinsk 2010, and he could still not make it happen for the current generation of French competitors, despite a nerve-wrecking battle in Russia.

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FAI Tanay Mondial 2020			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		11		Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open		O,19,Q,5		17,B,E,P		H,15,12		M,N,7,F		K,L,C,4		J,18,16		1,9,A		8,6,2		21,10,14		22,G,D,13		20,3,11		Total	Avg
1	Airspeed XP8	US	20		23		22	-1	23		31	-1	23		24		-		-		-		-		166	23.7
2	France National 8-way	FR	20		23		25		24		26	-1	25	-1	22	-1	-		-		-		-		165	23.6
3	Tanay 8	RU	18		21	-1	20		23		26		23		22		-		-		-		-		153	21.9
Rank	4-way Women		O,19,Q,5		17,B,E,P		H,15,12		M,N,7,F		K,L,C,4		J,18,16		1,9,A		8,6,2		21,10,14		22,G,D,13		20,3,11		Total	Avg
1	Bubbles	RU	21	-1	33	-3	18	-1	33	-3	27		18	-2	-		-		-		-		-		150	25.0
2	Aerodyne Maubeuge	FR	24		27	-4	18		34		24	-2	21		-		-		-		-		-		148	24.7
3	No Mercy	PL	15		20	-1	11	-1	20	-2	16		11		-		-		-		-		-		93	15.5

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However, the French 4-way Women trio came almost just as close to the double-gold success as Arizona Airspeed's original lineup was in 2001, when they missed the 4-way top spot by one point after winning in 8-way.

The French 4-way team copied the 1-point miss in Maubeuge 2008, also after winning in 8-way, and Mathieu Bernier finally wrapped it up two years later, once again with gold in 8-way and by three points over Craig Girard's Airspeed Odyssey 4-way lineup.

The French 8-way team at the FAI Tanay Mondial last year was one single point behind Airspeed XP8 after Round 7, when the meet came to its end. The 4-way Women team was two points behind the Russian Bubbles after Round 6, which was also the last round of the meet.

It was a total of three points for both events that kept the French delegation eventually from accomplishing the double-gold target. The four XP8 world champions pointed out last week that the performance of the three 4-way Women competitors in the French 8-way lineup and the whole French delegation did not get enough credit for their impressive performance in Tanay. It should be called a double-silver success rather than another miss of double-gold.

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Airspeed XP8 - France 8-way at the FAI Tanay Mondial 2020

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Witnessing the French situation in Tanay did not deter the XP8 delegation from planning the road to the next world meet as it has turned out. Arizona Airspeed members Niklas Hemlin, Mikhail Markine and Christopher Kuhlmann came to the conclusion that they would rather focus only on the 4-way event to be ready for winning the next Airspeed gold medals.

It was in Dubai 2012 when Airspeed won 4-way gold medals last time. The most important Airspeed goal is to take the world's 4-way top spot back from NMP PCH HayaBusa.

There is also not really as much pressure on XPG4 as the French 4-way Women team was facing last year. It happened almost by coincidence that the new lineup has become a top contender for FAI world meet medals, and even the gold medals could be in reach. The double-gold feast has not been a defined goal when XPG4's new lineup began with the training at the beginning of the year.

Even by now, there is no indication whether XPG4 will be in the run for gold medals or not. Neither British 4-way Women team NFTO nor the French Nephtys have posted any outdoor scores this year. Fact is only that the reigning 4-way Women world champions from Russia cannot defend their title. The national championships in Great Britain and France are coming up soon, and the scores will provide a better preview of the current situation.

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Bubbles - France 4-way Women at the FAI Tanay Mondial 2020

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