posted Dec 15th, 2023 - France has always been one of the powerhouses in Formation Skydiving competition and has won numerous world championship titles in all events, 4-way Open, 8-way Open, 4-way Women, 4-way VFS. There has not been a world championship yet since 1985 where France did not bring home at least one set of medals. France is also the only country who accomplished a complete FS Sweep with gold medals in all four current events so far. This will probably change next year when the US delegation may do the same what France did in 2010.

8-way medals at outdoor world championships have been the most consistent and reliable factor in the French history of the sport. The French 8-way teams won medals at 18 of the 20 outdoor world championships since 1985, consecutively between 1985 and 2016, including three sets of 8-way gold medals between 2006 and 2010.

Only the United States have been even more successful in 8-way, with medals at each world championship since 1985, including 15 sets of gold medals. Russia won twice in 8-way (2001, 2003) and missed medal positions only in 1985, 2008 and 2022 when Russian 8-way teams did not participate.

Three French 8-way competitors were in the three lineups who won the three sets of gold medals in 2006, 2008 and 2010: Bruno Perin, Clement Martin Saint Leon and Emmanuel "Manu" Sarrazin. One of them is still an active outdoor competitor and represented France once again at a recent FAI event: Emmanuel Sarrazin with Mojo Annecy-Clermont at the 23rd FAI World Cup of Formation Skydiving.

Medal winning countries in Formation Skydiving competition since 1985

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23rd FAI World Cup of Formation Skydiving 2023			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open		3,G,N,19		11,17,L		13,7,C		2,D,O,8		14,K,J,12		9,M,P,H		5,4,18		15,1,10		16,21,E		F,20,6		Total	Avg
1	GKXP8	US	27		22		19		19		20		24		24	-1	25	-1	23		25		228	22.8
2	Qatar Falcons	QA	18		18		16		13		16		20		16	-3	20		20		20		177	17.7
3	Prison 9	US	16		14		12	-1	11		12		13	-1	15		16		13		15		137	13.7
4	Mojo Annecy-Clermont	FR	15		11	-1	12		8	-1	10	-1	14		12		13	-1	13		13	-1	121	12.1
5	Ap8thy	UK	11		9		10		7	-1	10		10		10	-1	11		10		11		99	9.9
6	Bra Nok XP	US	12	-3	6	-2	10		7	-2	9		10	-1	11	-2	11	-1	13		6	-4	95	9.5
7	Deton8	UK	4		2		4		0		0		3		3	-1	2		3		3		24	2.4

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Mojo Annecy-Clermont - Ap8thy - Deton8 at the 23rd FAI World Cup of Formation Skydiving - Video footage courtesy of InTime/FAI/ISC

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Manu Sarrazin was selected for the French 8-way team by national coach Jerome David in 2002 who began to build the most successful French Formation Skydiving delegation in history. Jerome David was the French national coach since 1994, and he assigned Manu Sarrazin as the 8-way team captain in 2004.

The new 8-way lineup turned the bronze medal position of 2003 and silver of 2004 into gold in 2006, defended the world championship title successfully in 2008, then again with the FS Sweep in Menzelinsk 2010. Manu Sarrazin had retired from the national team after his second 8-way gold medal in 2008 and was only the alternate in Menzelinsk 2010.

However, his former team mates and new national coach Jeremie Rollett convinced him to return to active competition for the next two years. Jeremie Rollett had to promise him that he would get the open slot in the 4-way team, after he switched to the national coach position. Manu Sarrazin was now back, and even for double duties in 4-way and 8-way at the FAI Dubai Mondial 2012.

The French 8-way team finished with the highest average in history until then (22.5) which was still not enough to win in Dubai, where the Golden Knights posted a 22.9 average for the 8-way gold medals. However, Manu Sarrazin was happy after scoring 26.5 in 4-way for the 3rd place, together with his 8-way team mates of 2006 and 2008 and 4-way world champions of 2010, Julien Degen, Mathieu and Guillaume Bernier, Olivier Henaff on camera.

Medal winning countries in 8-way Formation Skydiving competition since 1985

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FAI Outdoor World Championship 2012			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open		N,21,B,5	14,C,13	22,M,20	17,H,16	J,E,12,4	7,19,15	G,K,8,2	O,L,F,P,A	10,11,18	9,Q,D,1	Total	Avg
1	Golden Knights	US	21	19	27	26	26	18	20	28	19	25	229	22.9
2	Aerodyne Maubeuge	FR	22	19	22	23	27	20	20	28	19	25	225	22.5
3	Barkli 8	RU	19	18	22	22	21	15	15	24	16	20	192	19.2
4	EADS 8	DE	14	13	15	15	18	14	14	16	13	16	148	14.8
5	VIVA 8	CH	13	13	15	15	14	11	12	17	13	13	136	13.6
6	Dubai Asaar 8	AE	11	11	12	11	10	10	10	12	12	12	111	11.1
7	M8Trix	NL	11	11	11	12	12	10	10	12	10	-	99	11.0
8	Brit Chicks 8	UK	11	11	12	11	14	10	11	11	6	-	97	10.8
9	South Africa 8	ZA	12	11	11	10	13	9	9	11	10	-	96	10.7
10	Qatar Falcons	QA	11	9	11	11	12	9	9	11	8	-	91	10.1
11	Australia	AU	10	8	9	11	12	10	9	13	-	-	82	10.3
12	The 8 Team	BE	8	11	7	11	12	9	10	12	-	-	80	10.0
12	CTR Optimum 8	BR	9	9	11	12	10	9	10	10	-	-	80	10.0
14	Austria	AT	8	8	9	10	10	6	7	8	-	-	66	8.3
15	Maximum Ride	CA	8	8	7	8	7	8	7	7	-	-	60	7.5
16	Singapore 8	SG	8	7	8	5	5	6	7	8	-	-	54	6.8

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Golden Knights - France at the FAI Dubai Mondial 2012 - Video footage courtesy of FAI/ISC/InTime

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Manu Sarrazin retired again somehow, this time as the alternate for the 4-way team of 2013 and 2014. Then his former 4-way and 8-way world champion team mates asked him once again to come back for the national 8-way team of 2015/2016, and the French 8-way team won the next set of silver medals behind the Golden Knights.

The next national coach, Mathieu Bernier, did not have a large enough budget any longer for the next world championship in Australia 2018, and France sacrificed the 8-way event. Mathieu Bernier then merged the two 4-way teams (4-way Open/4-way Women) for the FAI Tanay Mondial. Mathieu Bernier almost succeeded with his plan and ended up with two sets of silver medals in 8-way and 4-way Women.

Manu Sarrazin had continued his 8-way passion with the Mojo player-coach project in the meantime, and the team decided to use their own private budget and compete at the 25th FAI World Formation Skydiving Championships 2022 in Eloy, then again at the 23rd FAI World Cup of Formation Skydiving 2023 in Norway. He was once again back with some of his former French world champion team mates and other 8-way world champions at the Weembinamic 2023. Ultim8 won the 8-way competition without any serious opposition...

Weembinamic 2023			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	8-way		G,L,E,3		B,14,6		6,2,P		15,4,17		9,D,8		A,21,22		7,1,11		H,19,N,5		18,F,12		M,Q,J,16		Total	Avg
1	Ultim8	FR	36	-1	25		21		35		23		23		27	-1	22	-1	31		42	-3	285	28.5
2	After 8 Weembi	FR	30	-4	20	-3	21		29	-3	18	-1	21		22	-1	23		25		47		256	25.6
3	Veloce QRF	FR	33		19		18		29		19		19	-2	24	-1	21		20		39		241	24.1
4	Rock8 Fullfly	FR	34		19		19		27		20		14		24		20		24		34		235	23.5
5	Veloce QRF 2	FR	24		19		19		28		18		20		22		19		20		35		224	22.4
6	Once FCUKed Pakoi	FR	24		18		18		19		16		17		18		17		23		30		200	20.0
7	Veloce QRF 4	US	25		16		15		22		11		16		16		16		19		26		182	18.2
8	Veloce QRF 3	FR	24		16		14		19		13		15		16		14		17		26		174	17.4
9	UBEND8	UK	21		13		13		17		14		12		16		14		15		25		160	16.0
10	Veloce QRF 8	DE	17		14		12		16		13		13		12		13		9		23		142	14.2
10	Pink Rabbits	FR	20		14		13		16		14		12		12		9		12		20		142	14.2
12	Veloce QRF 6	US	18		11		12		18		12		11		13		13		14		19		141	14.1
13	Veloce QRF 7	UK	12		13		8		14		9		8		10		8		12		12		106	10.6
14	Veloce QRF 9	CZ	15		12		8		11		8		6		8		11		10		14		103	10.3

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Ultim8 at the Weembinamic 2023, Video Footage Courtesy of Weembi Lille

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