posted Aug 9th, 2007 - The FAI World Cup of Formation Skydiving 2007 is over. Belgium (Hayabusa Defence), France (Maubeuge) and Russia (Sky Panthers) won the medals of the World Cup and the European Championship in the 4-way Open category. France, Russia and Italy took the first three places for both events in the 8-way competition. France (Maubeuge), Russia (JetBats) and Germany (Chicas) won the medals in the 4-way Women category.

The World Cup was actually identical with the European Championship. There were literally no teams from outside of Europe in Russia. The only difference in the official rankings of both events is caused by the fact that the FAI allows four teams of a nation to compete at a World Cup, while only one national team represents each country in the European Championship. However, these event specific rules do not cause any differences in the medal positions of both events.

France was obvously the winning nation with two sets of gold medals (4-way Women and 8-way) and silver medals in the 4-way Open competition. The members of the French 4-way Open teams missed the double-gold feature by one point in the jump-off round. Russia won two sets of silver medals (4-way Women and 8-way) and bronze medals in 4-way Open. Belgium (4-way Open), Italy (8-way) and Germany (4-way Women) won the remaining medals.

The rankings of the World Cup do not realistically reflect the current international power structure. US teams would most likely interfere in the medal rankings in 4-way Open and 8-way. The British teams would probably win some medals in the female 4-way category. The missing teams now have to wait until the World Championship of Formation Skydiving in France 2008 until they have the next opportunity to win international FAI medals.

However, the names of most of the top teams will surely appear earlier and frequently on the NSL leaderboard before they travel to France next year. Several regional, national and international competitions will take place between now and August 2008, and the teams will look for serious competition practice.

The 8-way competition in Russia was the last event to be concluded today in Stupino, Russia. FAI Controller Dr. Rainer "Exi" Hoenle provided the remaining commentary for the last three rounds.

Exi's World Cup Corner - Round 8

The lunch meal was apparently not well digested by the British 8-way team when Round 8 came up. The 10 points in time were reduced to a 7-pointer on the scoreboard by three busts. the nice jump by the second French team is being rewarded with 14 points. The German team seems to struggle with the after-lunch situation, as well, and deals with key issues and a brainlock. The 13 points don't help much at all in the pursuit of the Italian team, which wins four more points over Germany with a 17-pointer. That's the end of this race. Russia tied the French 23-pointer but loses two points by busts.

Round 9

The event now moves forward very slowly. People hang around and wait until the judges move back to the official quarters for the next round of 8-way videos, this time for Round 9. The British team scores a nice 10-pointer, and France Nice Perros struggles for an 11-pointer. EADS Germany tries harder one more time and gets to 16 points in time. It's not enough, Italy's Ex3mo is always a little bit better today and adds another point to the difference with a 17-pointer. This result for Round 9 even beats the Russian 8-way team, which loses two points and has a very dotted scoresheet. France wins another round with 20 points.

Round 10

All teams have now landed after Round 10. France Nice Perros applies a technique for Block 22 that leaves the center of the Old Bone open until the rest of the formation is complete and ready for a touch and hop from the center to the outside. Unfortunately, time runs out before the center could be closed, the Old Bone was not completed early enough. Germany and Italy settle their conflict with 16-pointers each and the 8-way bronze medals for Italy. France finishes the meet with a nice 21-pointer and celebrates with a team circle that acknowledges specifically the team videographer. The show is over, award ceremony is on Friday at 10:00 am. Congratulations to all teams, the winners as well as all participants.