posted Sep 7th, 2003 - Round two went much smoother for all the teams. There was only one penalty within the group of the first ten teams in the rankings. No wonder, none of the vertical techniques were part of the sequence. In fact, there is only one more block left with the potential for trouble, Block 6 (Stardian - Stardian). This block will be up in round three. Only Sebastian XL's score of 24 points was reduced to 22 after an incomplete Diamond at the very end of the sequence. Bad luck for the U.K. team since their performance has been right on the very top level of the field through the first two rounds. One penalty in each round holds XL back and in sixth position until here. No excuses, only the final scores on the board really count.

Besides that, the first six places have already been taken by the teams that were expected to be in this group. However, it seems as if a gap opens up between second and third place. The Golden Knights could not defend their first place and fell one point behind France Maubeuge. Yet the U.S. team still has a four-point lead over Russia, Norway and Italy. Will the race for the gold medal once again only be between U.S.A. and France? Next question: will it be a race for the gold medal at all? The 4-way experts expected 24 points as the highest score for this round. And this seemed to be true until France came. The Maubeuge team chose a slightly shorter transition from the Bunyip of Block 10 to the Bundy (M), completed the long block move at the end of the sequence and added the last Bundy to the total score within working time. It was a major blow to the other top teams.

The French team was already a little bit faster than the Golden Knights in the first round but lost two points for their last Zipper - Star. The Golden Knights could not get to the 18th point as the French team after choosing a slower and safer technique for Block 12. However, round two was without tricks and strategies. And France Maubeuge was finally significantly ahead of the other four teams that finished with the first Diamond of Block 10 and a total of 24 points. Is the French team really skydiving on a higher speed level? The next rounds will show soon.