NSL News on 27 October 1999

posted Jul 26th, 2024 - Airspeed went out to make history and do what nobody else has ever done before - win the 4-way and the 8-way event at the same world championship. But it didn't happen. They finished short in 4-way and lost Excalibur to France. However, Airspeed still has the chance to win a gold medal in 8-way, even though Russia made up another point in Round 9. The current 4-point lead should still be enough to carry it home in 8-way.

Winning both events was a big goal. Skydiving as a sport has become so professional that it meant taking a big chance trying to win both events. The rival teams were all pure experts in their events. Even though Airspeed made more total training jumps than ever before, they still had less than the other teams in each event. At the same time, France had a great meet. Tim Wagner commented that France won straight and square. They just were the better team at this meet.

For the bronze medals, Great Britain's Sebastian XL made a big effort to make up the missing three points to Norway in the final round. And the small miracle almost happened. XL's 18-pointer forced the Norgies to put up a 16 on the scoreboard to avoid a jump-off. And they just got the 16 in time. What a race for the 3rd place. Congratulations to France, U.S.A. and Norway, and thanks for the excitement they gave us while we were following the event. Here is Solly's Corner with comments on yesterday's competition:

Solly Williams on 4-way Open on 27 October 1999

Good morning to you all, and what a good morning it is. No wind outside and no sign of a cloud - yet! We should see the finish of a major portion of the meet here today. Unfortunately Airspeed have seven competition rounds to complete, which means we will still be held till tomorrow before the party flags can go up. What a day of excitement yesterday turned out to be. Today should yield the same.

What a day for Norway. Two excellent rounds that have reversed the pressure on XL. These guys turned it on yesterday in true viking style. XL had good jumps but just didn't get the fire going. Round 9 is a strong round for us, and I'm pretty sure we can keep it together. The French picked up another point in Round 5, which was expected. That had them again toes up going into Round 6. Airspeed still came back with a ripper in Round 6 and tore that round up hard too. Probably the best round of their meet so far. The French round was good but not as pure. That had them all square going into Round 7. French had a good round although not too clean. Apparently the event judge asked for a review, but they still came up clean. Their 21st point was barely there.

Airspeed came out the gates well but had problems building the start of 17 and also had a small go-back on the finish of an Offset. They looked tight again. The stakes are high, and as we approach the end of this meet, the stress/anxiety is mounting with it. Not a a lot of room for any extra smiling in the U.S. camp. Funny how this sport works. No one other then yourself can effect your own performance, but we still get nervous when the meet comes around. Gotta love it. Final pitch on the 4-way is that the French are now two points up on Airspeed after seven rounds. Deland Norgies lead Sebastian-XL by three after eight rounds. Behind that the Aussies and Russia are still a point adrift with Germany slightly behind them.

FAI World Championship 1999			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		9,24,A	O,M,2,Q	14,P,11	19,3,15	N,8,12	C,1,E,20	K,23,17	B,16,21	L,22,J,7	G,5,6	Total	Avg
1	Maubeuge	FR	23	23	18	19	18	24	21	21	21	20	208	20.8
2	Arizona Airspeed	US	23	24	19	16	17	26	19	19	20	19	202	20.4
3	DeLand Norgies	NO	21	23	16	17	16	23	20	19	20	16	191	19.1
4	Sebastian XL	UK	21	23	16	17	17	23	18	17	20	18	190	19.0

Solly Williams on 8-way Open on on 27 October 1999

Airspeed caught up with their Round 6 and a clean 22. With Russia busting from 21 to 19 one more time it takes the heat off Airspeed, as they now lead by six points ahead if I'm correct on that. Airspeed have consistently had the best scoring in 8-way, and we shouldn't expect a change there. Let's see if the French can make up the Gap between them and Russia today. 4-way starts at 10.45 this morning. It's my birthday today, so no prizes for guessing correctly what I asked Norway to give me as a present... :-)

FAI World Championship 1999			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open Top 6		15,7,13	B,12,E,3	20,K,11	23,H,J	F,2,8	D,6,P,22	N,A,M,G,16	21,L,14	10,C,4	1,9,O	Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	22	25	20	20	16	22	25	19	21	21	211	21.1
2	Russia	RU	20	23	20	23	14	19	26	19	22	23	209	20.9
3	Maubeuge	FR	15	21	22	23	13	21	26	19	20	20	200	20.0
4	Australia	AU	15	18	12	10	12	16	20	14	14	16	147	14.7
5	Japan	JP	12	12	11	11	11	12	14	13	10	13	119	11.9
6	Germany	DE	13	13	12	12	9	10	15	10	11	10	115	11.5

NSL News on 28 October 1999

What a finish! The Russian 8-way team made it as difficult as possible for the U.S. team in Australia. They almost closed the gap of four points to Airspeed. In Round 10, Russia outscored Airspeed again by two points, which was still not enough. However, a closer look at the score sheets shows that it was much closer than it may look like. Two judges had busted Airspeed at the 19th point. If a third judge had made his mark there, the score would have been a 19 instead of the 21.

Airspeed and Russia would have been tied in first place, and we would have seen a jump-off for the gold medals. At the end, Airspeed's clean and consistent performance was rewarded with the gold medals. It's interesting to see that it was the cleanest team winning the event - not the fastest one. Looking at the pure scores, Russia completed a total of 219 points in working time, Airspeed 213, France 212. This means that Russia was skydiving half of a point faster than Airspeed. But it's not only the speed that puts the scores on the board. Actually, Russia were only rough in the beginning of the meet. They no longer received any penalties after Round 6. That's when they cut by four points into the lead of Airspeed. They should have cleaned it up a little earlier. Airspeed was skydiving their clean style from the very beginning - and won.

However, it did not turn out like that in 4-way. Airspeed's style was not rewarded in their second event. France were going faster and rougher, but they avoided penalties - and won. Even though Airspeed could not make their dream come true by winning both events, they did the most important job: winning the 8-way gold medals. After winning the 4-way world championship title twice in 1995 and 1997 they were primarily out to win their first 8-way gold medals.

This goal became even more important considering the fact that no other country has ever won the 8-way competition in the history of Formation Skydiving world championships (1977 - 1999). Imagine Airspeed losing to the Golden Knights at the USPA Nationals this year, still going to the world meet, then losing in 4-way and in 8-way for the first time. That's pressure! Of course, top athletes like Airspeed have learned to avoid this kind of thinking. They just focused on the right things at the right time.

No matter what, one of the William H. Ottley Swords for Formation Skydiving world champions, also known as the Excalibur, travels back to the United States one more time. Russia and France are getting another two years to find a plan how to win the 8-way competition. And the Golden Knights are already on the way to take over the job that Arizona Airspeed's 8-way team just completed. The U.S. 4-way teams are now facing a challenge in the next two years - somebody will have to get the 4-way Excalibur back from France...