Day 5: All to Play For
The last day of the Championship with everything to play for - we kicked off at 08.00hrs ETC with Round 7 (semi-final) of FS 4-Way Junior, followed by the semi-final round for FS 4-Way VFS. Without catching a breath we were straight into the semi-final round for the Junior Freestylers.
Tension is already building as the start of the final round of the 4-Way Open approaches. The scheduled time to start is 09.17hrs and by 09.59hrs it'll be over, the teams would have given it their best. Then it's over to the judges who will decide on the third place position.
In such a fast paced competition it's hard to keep up to date with everything that is happening and during the first 2 days of this Championships the following records were established or surpassed:
The following records were set over the last two days...
4-Way Open, Longest Sequence -
World Record - 47 points by Belgium in round 5 - also European Record
North American Record - 41 points by USA in round 5
East Asian Record - 26 points by China round 5
4-Way Female, Longest Sequence
European Record - 38 points by France in round 5
East Asian Record - 20 points by China in round 5
4-Way Junior, Longest Sequence
World Record - 36 points by France in round 1 - also European Record
North American Record - 32 points by Canada in round 1
East Asian Record - 29 points by Singapore in round 1
4-Way VFS Longest Sequence
World Record - 56 points by USA in round 6 - also North American Record
European Record - 38 points by France in round 1
European Record - 53 points by France in round 6
Here's a short compilation, about 5 minutes in length, including some lovely slow motion footage kindly provided by Steffen Rapp:
France has once again reigned supreme, by taking the World Champion titles in 4-Way Female, 4-Way Junior and 4-Way VFS, with only the 4-Way Open remaining as elusive as ever. Belgium is no stranger to being the World Champion and Gold Medal winner, indeed they have held these titles for the last seven years. For France it must be so frustrating to be within touching distance, but for it to remain out of reach. Russia went into the final round with only a single point lead over the USA, but failed to hold onto that position, necessitating a jump-off for third place. The Bronze medal was not only snatched by the USA, but they made a blistering performance of 59 points, taking them into the Record books with a new World record. At the conclusion of a thrilling afternoon, aided by an enthusiastic audience, the Dynamic 2 and 4-Way battles have finally concluded, bringing the Championships to an end. The statutory 2 hour period has now lapsed where formal protests could have been made, so below are the final and Official placings for both Formation Skydiving and Artistic Results.
FS 4-Way Open
1 Belgium 327 (average 32.7)
2 France 320 (average 32.0)
3 USA 302 (average 30.2)
FS 4-Way Female
1 France 298 (average 29.8)
2 Great Britain 248 (average 24.8)
3 Czech Rep 225 (average 22.5)
FS 4-Way Junior
1 France 230 (average 28.75)
2 Canada 208 (average 26.00)
3 Czech Rep 181 (average 22.63)
FS 4-Way VFS
1 France 315 (average 31.5)
2 USA 309 (average 30.9)
3 Poland 245 (average 24.5)
Freestyle Open
1 Russia 64.9
2 Poland 62.7
3 Czech Rep 61.8
Freestyle Junior
1 Singapore 64.1
2 USA 63.2
3 Poland 62.5
Dynamic 2-Way
1 Poland
2 Singapore
3 France
Dynamic 4-Way
1 France
2 Czech
3 Switzerland
In addition to the new records that have already been set - we have some more, bringing the total during the competition to 7 new World records and 23 Continental!
4-way Longest Seqence World Record - 59 points by Arizona Airspeed (USA) in jump-off round (also N. American record) European Record - 58 points by Black Cat (RUS) in jump-off round Highest Score in 10 rounds (brand new record type) World Records- 4-way General - Hayabusa (BEL) 327 points - also European 4-way Female - France FS4 Female (FRA) 298 points - also European VFS General - Frrance VFS 4 (FRA) 315 points - also European Continental records East Asian General - China 4-WAY Gold (CHN) 198 points East Asian Female - China 4-WAY Red (CHN) 157 points North American General - Arizona Airspeed (USA) 302 points North American Female - Texas Crush (USA) 169 points
Latest Jury Decision: