posted Oct 16th, 2024 - Three "Olden Knights" members of GKXP8 (Andrew Starr, Matt Davidson, Jesse Stahler) shared their impressions and experiences with the NSL News after scoring a new 8-way world record for a single round (37) and matching the highest average in the history (23.9) of Formation Skydiving competition at the 26th FAI World Formation Skydiving Championships last week.

Their team mate John D'Annunzio added to his feedback from a different perspective during the NSL Live Talk conversation with Rook Nelson on October 10th. Skydive Paraclete XP and Skydive Chicago had joined forces to host the outdoor world championship at Crystal Coast Skydiving, with Rook Nelson's sister Melissa as the meet director.

The NSL News continued to collect insights of the GKXP8 members to understand what it takes to get to the highest level of 8-way competition. Jeana Billings and Kirk Verner agreed to meet for new NSL Live Talk after returning from the eastern shores of North Carolina to their home base at Skydive Paraclete XP in Raeford. There was not much time for such conversations during the competition, as both GKXP8 members were heavily involved with logistics and meet management while they competed with their 8-way team. On top of that, Jeana Billings also competed in two events, as the NSL News has pointed out regularly in the previews of the event. Only GKXP8 members Mike Connors and Andrew Happick could not add their personal experiences yet during or after the event.

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NSL Live Talk with Jeana Billings and Kirk Verner at Skydive Paraclete XP on 14 October 2024

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It was easier to get a few words from 8-way alternate Jennifer Davidson here and there, as she was only competing in 4-way Women with XPG4 and was available when GKXP8 were in the air. Golden Knights 4-way member Mitch Stockenberg was the other alternate, and both were not needed to step in for GKXP8 at any time. Team videographer Chris Bess was at least showing off his acrobatic tricks a few times in the boarding area.

Jeana Billings completed her double gold mission successfully, after a battle with China's 4-way Women team that was closer and more exciting than the scoring numbers on the leaderboard are showing. XPG4 had to be ready to deliver a solid performance for all ten rounds, as the Chinese team was ready to outscore them in each round.

The consistency of the XPG4 performance was the main factor for the 15-point lead at the end of the ten rounds. China's 4-way Women team turned out to be the strong opponent that XPG4 expected to meet, even though there were no outdoor numbers available to measure the Chinese scoring level in the run-up to the event. Jeana Billings said that the mental challenge was there all the time, with the potential of Chinese highscores at any time in 4-way Women, and with the pursuit of world record numbers by GKXP8.

FAI Outdoor World Championship 2024			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open Top 3		14,G,13		J,C,17,12		D,A,21,P		18,B,H,F		E,L,O,8		22,2,K		6,7,16		9,20,15		3,M,N,4		5,1,10		Total	Avg
1	GKXP8	US	19	-1	21	-1	22		26		21	-1	21	-1	25		24		37		23		239	23.9
2	Qatar Falcons	QA	16		18		19		21		17		16	-1	20		19		25	-2	19		190	19.0
3	Operation Adler	DE	14		14		11	-2	13	-1	13		14		15		14		20	-2	15		143	14.3

FAI Outdoor World Championship 2024			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Women Top 3		14,G,13		J,C,17,12		D,A,21,P		18,B,H,F		E,L,O,8		22,2,K		6,7,16		9,20,15		3,M,N,4		5,1,10		Total	Avg
1	XPG4	US	19	-1	22	-1	28		30	-1	28		20		20		18	-1	24		18		227	22.7
2	China	CN	18	-1	17	-4	29		27		28	-1	18		21		16	-1	21		17	-1	212	21.2
3	Nephtys	FR	17		20		27		26	-1	25		18		17	-1	15	-1	17	-2	16		198	19.8

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26th FAI World Formation Skydiving Championships: GKXP8 - XPG4, Video Footage Courtesy of FAI/ISC/InTime

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The U.S. 8-way team did not have any serious opposition, even though Kirk Verner pointed out that the Qatar Falcons still delivered a strong performance with their new 19.0 team record average. GKXP8 have been used to create as much pressure as possible on themselves due to the lack of serious opposition in the 8-way event.

They had the perfect timing for challenging themselves with the outstanding performance at Crystal Coast, as the 37-pointer in Round 9 will probably stand for a long time, and the 23.9 average ended up just a point and a frame short of a new record average.

Jeana Billings, Kirk Verner and John D'Annunzio have now won three consecutive 8-way gold medals together. It was the 5th one for Kirk Verner, who also has two 4-way Open Class gold medals in his collection. This adds up to a total of seven, which sets him in sole 2nd place in the history of 4-way Open and 8-way Open Class competition, one gold medal behind Craig Girard. His GKXP8 team mate Matt Davidson has moved to the top of the 8-way rankings with six gold medals that he shares with Craig Girard and Scott Rhodes.

Jeana Billings and Kirk Verner are not planning to rest on their most recent accomplishments. They will soon at least begin with new plans for the continuation of the Paraclete XP 8-way project. One more 8-way gold medal would tie Kirk Verner with Craig Girard on the top of the all-time gold medalists in Formation Skydiving competition. Both have won 4-way gold with Arizona Airspeed at different times, and Kirk Verner is one 8-way medal behind. Three times (1999, 2004, 2022) they won their 8-way gold medals together.

4-way Open and 8-way Open multiple gold medal winners between 1985 and 2024

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