posted Jul 11th, 2011 - The last preview of the World Cup 2011 mentioned that this year's event has the character of a real world meet, as four teams from outside of Europe visit Germany next month. The Golden Knighhts are the major contributor to this great feature event of the 2011 season.

The US Army delegation has a lineup for each of the three traditional Formation Skydiving events, and the 8-way competition will most likely be the most exciting category. The 4-way Open Class competition does not have the strongest US team in the field of 23 teams, Arizona Airspeed. The Golden Knights have a very strong 4-way Gold lineup, but the main focus is still on 8-way. The 4-way experts from France, Belgium and Russia are probably too strong for a US medal chance.

The same counts for the female 4-way category where Golden Knights team captain Brian "BK" Krause has built up a strong 4-way lineup. The French Aerodyne Deep Blue Defenders is the sole top contender, and the teams from Russia (Illusions), Great Britain (Aerodyne Bodyflight) and Norway (Polaris) will make it difficult for the Golden Knights to win medals in the female 4-way category.

However, the 8-way competition promises the most exciting battle of all three categories and the best chances for the Golden Knights to win this lineup's first international gold medals. The whole 8-way competition in Saarlouis, Germany, offers even more excitement than the World Championship of Formation Skydiving 2010 did last year in Menzelinsk, Russia.

The NSL News audience may remember that the host was struggling to get the minimum number of teams to make the event and its winning teams eligible for FAI/IPC medals. Eventually, Norway threw together a pickup 8-way team, and the 4-way team from Kazakhstan recruited a few more skydivers from their homeland to register an 8-way team, as well.

This year's World Cup host does not have this 8-way problem at all. Ten registered 8-way teams bring the World Cup 2011 to the top of the participation at world cups since 1998. There were only two world meets ever that registered more than ten 8-way teams in the history of modern Formation Skydiving competition.

World Meet 2010		Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7	Round 8	Round 9	Round 10	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way	3,21,N	6,20,9	E,G,17,5	K,16,2	12,C,22	B,D,M,1	7,15,J	13,L,P,11	4,18,O	10,14,19	Total	Avg
1	France	25	19	16	21	22	25	18	19	23	15	203	20.3
2	USA	23	17	18	20	22	27	20	17	21	11	196	19.6
3	Russia	20	19	16	17	22	20	18	19	20	14	185	18.5
4	Norway	8	5	6	7	7	7	8	9	10	5	72	7.2
5	Kazakhstan	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	4	0.4

Other than that, the 8-way competition in Menzelinsk last year was a thriller, a battle to the last round between France and the Golden Knights. The Russian 8-way team was only a little bit behind due to several point deductions and little training. The NSL News audience can look forward to a, most likely, even more exciting battle this year.

The Golden Knights come back with the same lineup and the team experiences of last year's competition, plus many more training jumps and wind tunnel time. Russia has the same lineup, as well, and the team players know each other much better than last year when the team was put together not too long before the World Meet on home turf.

France has to defend the title. National team manager Jeremie Rollett, multiple 4-way and 8-way world champion himself, has decided to go after 4-way and 8-way gold medals in 2012 with an 8-way lineup that includes the members of the 4-way team. The World Cup 2011 will be the first serious test for the new 8-way lineup.