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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:
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 |
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 |
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.
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...