posted Sep 8th, 2003 - The bad weather front had arrived already yesterday in the late afternoon when round three of the 4-way event was almost completed. Only France Maubeuge and the Golden Knights have not made this round yet. This round will now show how close the field of top teams really are. Italy (Sinapsi PD), Norway (DeLand Norgies) and Great Britain (Sebastian XL) already delivered their great performances for round three. Norway's 21 seemed to be the score to beat after a sharp jump. XL simply copied the Norwegian excellence and once again posted a world class result. However, DeLand Majik member Joey Jones who was observing the jumps together with Airspeed's Craig Girard, expected that this would not be the highest score for the round.

Jones was right. The 22nd point was still in reach as a random transition. Sinapsi PD was next in jump order and showed that there was room for improvement. Although the Italian team got close to the centerpoint situation with their Block 6 technique (Stardian - Stardian), the final score of 22 points survived the careful evaluation by the judges. This Italian score broke their tie with the Norgies after two rounds. And Sinapsi PD has secured the third place for now. However, Italy, Norway and Great Britain are separated by only two points after three rounds. Everything is still possible from here on.

The Russian team Wild Wind has lost serious ground at this point and does not seem to be in contention for the bronze medal or more any longer. Wild Wind had the third position after the first round. But they lost too many points in rounds two and three to remain in the run for a medal. The competition is too tight for a team to make up for early losses. On the other hand, the Swiss team Endeavour skydives according to their progression over the whole 2003 season and slowly catches up with the Russian team. There might be the first surprise to come in the 4-way event.

The question regarding the remaining two teams to complete round three, France and U.S.A., is whether they will be able to get past the 22 points Sinapsi PD has posted. This will be very difficult since the transition to the 23rd point is a block move (Block 16: Compressed Accordion - Box). It is a fast block, and Joey Jones once again thinks that it is possible to score 23 points. If both teams get past the 22, then it will only be a duel for the gold medal. If only the Golden Knights get to the 23, then the competition between U.S.A. and France will be really thight. If only France gets to the 23, then it might become a boring situation as of the gold medal.....

It all changed. The 8-way teams were sent home at noon, and the 4-way teams had to wait for better weather. It took a long time before the weather unexpectedly improved enough for more jumping. France and U.S.A. had to complete round three together with all teams of the 4-way Women's event. It was a very exciting completion of round three. Both teams already greeted each other after landing as if it was the last round of the meet. The performance of both teams was so close that only tenths of a second separated the completion of the 23rd point for France Maubeuge and the missing grip of Chris Talbert for the 23rd point of the Golden Knights.The NSL News used another weather hold to interview DeLand Majik member Solly Williams about the current situation in the competition. Williams is not competing in France since his team did not win the USPA Nationals 2002. However, he is still very much involved in the race for medals at the World Meet in Gap. He has coached the DeLand Norgies for years and has prepared V-Max, the British national team, for this event.