posted Aug 14th, 2023 - The unique double-gold feature in horizontal Formation Skydiving competition became only as well known as it is by now after the first person in history accomplished it, current French national coach Mathieu Bernier in Menzelinsk 2010.

The NSL News then began the exploration of more history with the same topic and went as far back as to the FAI World Championship 1987, where the Golden Knights won 8-way gold and 4-way silver. The update on August 8th covered Arizona Airspeed with a defined plan how to turn gold/silver in 1987 into gold/gold in 1999, which they missed by only a few points.

The outcome in 1999 was probably too close to drop the ultimate goal, and Arizona Airspeed continued for two more years with on same mission. It was a new 4-way lineup though that would take on the same challenge. The original lineup (Dan BC, Jack Jefferies, Mark Kirkby, Kirk Verner, Steve Nowak on camera) was done with intensive 4-way training after two gold medals in 1995 and 1997, and the 2nd place with double duties in 1999.

Only Mark Kirkby continued with the new 4-way lineup of Airspeed Vertical. Craig Girard, who had moved to Arizona and launched the Airspeed 8-way project after his time with the Golden Knights, and Mark Kirkby together recruited John Eagle and Neal Houston for the new 4-way lineup, with Mark Steinbaugh on camera. Original Airspeed members Dan BC, Jack Jefferies and Kirk Verner had still agreed to continue only in 8-way for two more years.

FAI Outdoor World Championship 2001			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		8,19,24	A,L,22,H	E,10,D,11	21,6,4	B,18,C,14	G,5,20	2,1,16	M,K,12,9	15,23,P	O,17,Q,N	Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	19	25	21	19	20	20	20	23	17	30	214	21.4
2	Maubeuge	FR	19	20	20	18	21	21	19	23	20	31	212	21.2
3	DeLand Norgies	NO	19	22	20	18	19	19	19	21	18	31	206	20.6
4	Sebastian XL	UK	17	22	20	17	18	19	19	21	18	28	199	19.9
5	Endeavour	CH	14	17	15	14	14	16	15	17	13	26	161	16.1
6	Sinapsi PD	IT	12	13	17	15	15	15	14	19	15	24	159	15.9
7	Germany	DE	13	13	15	15	16	15	14	18	13	-	132	14.7
8	Russia	RU	13	17	14	13	14	14	16	15	13	-	129	14.3
8	Belgium	BE	14	14	14	13	14	14	15	17	14	-	129	14.3
10	Japan	JP	14	14	15	14	16	13	11	17	12	-	126	14.0
11	Spain	ES	14	11	14	14	15	12	15	18	-	-	113	14.1
12	Netherlands	NL	13	16	14	13	14	12	13	14	-	-	109	13.6
13	Australia	AU	13	11	15	14	10	14	15	11	-	-	103	12.9
14	Voodoo	ZA	11	14	13	12	13	13	11	15	-	-	102	12.8
15	Canada	CA	10	11	11	12	11	12	13	13	-	-	93	11.6
16	Croatia	HR	9	11	11	11	12	10	9	13	-	-	86	10.8
17	Brazil	BR	10	11	9	9	10	10	11	12	-	-	82	10.3
18	Ireland	IE	10	11	10	9	8	9	11	10	-	-	78	9.8
19	Denmark	DK	8	10	11	8	9	9	10	11	-	-	76	9.5
20	Austria	AT	5	9	7	10	11	10	8	12	-	-	72	9.0
21	Portugal	PT	7	3	8	10	9	9	9	11	-	-	66	8.3
22	Czech Republic	CZ	7	9	4	8	11	5	10	11	-	-	65	8.1
23	Lithuania	LT	8	7	6	8	8	9	7	8	-	-	61	7.6
24	Argentina	AR	5	8	6	9	7	7	5	8	-	-	55	6.9
25	Israel	IL	6	8	4	9	5	5	8	9	-	-	54	6.8
26	Slovakia	SK	5	8	7	8	7	7	5	0	-	-	47	5.9
26	Finland	FI	4	8	7	9	5	7	5	2	-	-	47	5.9
28	Indonesia	ID	6	6	6	5	5	6	5	6	-	-	45	5.6
29	Turkey	TR	5	5	4	7	7	5	5	6	-	-	44	5.5
30	Slovenia	SI	8	10	9	9	3	0	0	4	-	-	43	5.4
31	Poland	PL	5	6	5	3	2	7	1	9	-	-	38	4.8
32	Colombia	CO	3	3	5	1	3	4	6	5	-	-	30	3.8
33	Korea	KR	2	4	2	6	3	0	0	6	-	-	23	2.9
34	Zimbabwe	ZW	2	3	1	4	1	3	3	4	-	-	21	2.6

The outcome of the second consecutive attempt to win two sets of FAI world championship gold medals at the same event was reversed in 2001. Airspeed's 8-way team had won by two points over Russia in 1999 and lost by one single point in 2001. The original 4-way lineup missed the third consecutive set of gold medals by two points in 1999, and the new Airspeed Vertical lineup won back the William H. Ottley Sword for the 4-way world champions, also known as the 4-way Excalibur.

It was a dramatic finish in 2001, as the 8-way teams were separated by one single point, after the 2-point difference in 4-way. Both 8-way teams were back with the same 8-way lineups as in 1999, which included reigning 8-way world champion Gary Beyer. New Airspeed Vertical 4-way member Neal Houston, 2001 winner in 4-way, was not in Airspeed's 8-way lineup.

Russia's 8-way lineup (Vasily Korotkov, Alexander Merts, Alexey Minaev, Mikhail Mineev, Oleg Pavlenko, Vladimir Pavlenko, Oleg Shalamykhin, Evgeny Stashchenko, Nikolay Sukharnikov, Pavel Savinykh on camera) trained and competed only in this event after the 2-point 2nd place in 1999. The 8-way battle became very dramatic when Arizona Airspeed was three points ahead after Round 9, and the Russian 8-way team had almost missed a round before winning Round 10 by four points. Solly Williams eye-witnessed the drama of Round 10 and shared his observations with the NSL News.

FAI Outdoor World Championship 2001			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open		16,P,13	1,Q,O,5	B,K,6,8	15,9,19	21,12,20	L,7,G,H	J,F,M,C,22	3,18,17	E,11,A,14	4,D,2	Total	Avg
1	Russia	RU	19	15	18	17	17	21	22	22	19	23	193	19.3
2	Arizona Airspeed	US	19	17	17	17	19	23	21	21	19	19	192	19.2
3	France	FR	16	17	16	15	19	20	20	18	18	20	179	17.9
4	Australia	AU	14	13	13	12	9	15	15	15	11	13	130	13.0
5	Netherlands	NL	14	12	14	14	10	11	13	14	11	13	126	12.6
6	Germany	DE	13	9	11	12	12	11	14	12	11	12	117	11.7
7	Great Britain	UK	13	11	5	12	12	11	13	10	11	-	98	10.9
8	Spain	ES	12	11	11	11	7	10	12	11	11	-	96	10.7
9	Brazil	BR	10	8	9	8	7	5	8	8	4	-	67	7.4
10	Canada	CA	8	2	7	6	6	5	6	7	5	-	52	5.8

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Written by Solly Williams at the FAI World Championship 2001

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The 8-way had a Cinderella finish. Airspeed went into Round 10 with a 3-point lead. The round was going to be relatively fast and mirror-imaged for everyone. The Russians had just cut the lead down to three by having a great Round 9. They seemed to have found the right rhythm. They came out the door with a ballistic Snowflake-InOut, had a small glitch building the Hope Diamond, and there after ripped the round - and I mean ripped. 23 was a good score and the pressure was on. The stage was set. The main hangar, where jumps were being viewed, was packed. Both Airspeed and the Russians where standing in the crowd. I noticed that most of the Airspeed guys had their jump suits still on. Perhaps they where thinking of a jump-off. They must have known the jump wasn't very good.

They came out the door okay, but after ten points it was clear to see the jump was stuck in the mud. No major glitches, but just too cautious and lacking rhythm. By the time it got to around 15 points, the tension was mounting. The score was stuck on 19 and the freeze-frame had happened. There was a moment of silence as the shock and disbelief set in. Pal Bergan, Gary Smith and I grabbed the nearest Russian dude and gave him a congratulatory hug. He just could not believe it, and at that stage not many people could.

Once the penny had dropped and the realization had set in, we went on to witness the most wonderful ten minutes I have ever witnessed in skydiving. There were tears of joy, elements of shock and disappointment, as well as the most wonderful sportsmanship I've seen in a long time, all mixed into the same magical moment. It didn't take long before the Russians where tossing people into the air, and that included Airspeed's Alan Metni who had helped them get the re-jump of Round 3. I get a cold shiver just thinking about it.

It was a very moving experience, and I am very grateful to have been one of the people there to witness not only the history of the first U.S. loss in 8-way but also true spirit of sportsmanship achieved at this international competition. Russia are deserving champions and no one will dispute that. Till next world meet - where I hope to be representing the U.S.A. in 4-way.

Solly Williams mentioned that Arizona Airspeed's Alan Metni had helped the Russian 8-way team to get a re-jump of Round 3. The incidence had a severe impact on the outcome of the competition.

The Russian 8-way team had missed a call for boarding in Round 3. A weather hold had caused a stand-by situation for the teams, and a language barrier delayed the Russian team's timely arrival at the dropzone. They missed the load for Round 3 and received a zero as the score. Airspeed were up by two points after Round 2, and the zero for Russia in Round 3 would have finished the battle for gold medals very early. Russia would have finished in 3rd place instead of winning by one point.

However, Arizona Airspeed's Alan Metni, a lawyer by profession, argued for a Russian re-jump and convinced the jury to allow a re-jump. Russia won Round 3 by a point and were back in the race that lasted until the situation in Round 10, which Solly Williams recalled for the NSL News.

Alan Metni had created the Airspeed tunnel camps while training and competing in 4-way and 8-way with the Airspeed teams before moving on to buy SkyVenture Orlando. He built more windtunnels in the United States and finally created the iFLY indoor world.