#4-way Open
For three whole days the 4-way jumpers have been waiting to jump. Now they finally have a chance to get in the air for a long competition day, their challenge is to keep this pent-up energy controlled. Everyone is watching for the battle between Hayabusa and Airspeed, with the Americans one point ahead going into the round. All eyes were glued to the screen for the judging of round 3… 13, 14, F (spin, spin, spinny, spinny!) … Hayabusa are scored first .. a clean 29. Next, Airspeed, struggled with that tricky 13 out the door, individuals 540 in the slipstream is super-challenging but they pull it off. They race through a near-perfect skydive – but bust the bottom of one of the 13s with Chris coming off a nanosecond before it’s built.. finishing on a 28 and making the scores tied. “We’re just trying to keep it interesting” Chris Farina commented, shaking hands with all of Hayabusa. You can see the respect and brotherhood between these two mega-talented teams. Although they are fighting each other for the gold and the glory, they are not like crude boxers smashing each other’s faces in the ring; no, more like fencing nobility, who’d extend a hand to help their opponent from the ground following a successful strike.
Round 4 is tense, 6, E, O, L – 4 randoms and a fast block, this could be a game-changer. This time Airspeed are judged first, they are like molten lava, you don’t know where it’s going and you can’t outrun it… a scorching 36 with no busts… Almost immediately Hayabusa appear on screen, nice one judges, you are really getting the scoring done quickly. There is a great atmosphere in the dining room with the teams watching intently and applauding at the end of the rounds.. back to Hayabusa – they are moving so quickly and neatly it’s incredible, takes your breath away. The screen freezes on 36, exactly the same score. Still tied after 4 rounds. Phew!
Round 5 (7, 1, A)
Canada pick up THREE centrepoint busts on the 1 (snowflake-snowflake), we have never seen that before. Ow! Airspeed fly fast and hard to a clean 28 ..Hayabusa on next..silence in the room.. who could call this one, the two teams look so perfect.. the screen freezes at 28
“Better start looking at that jump-off round” says Thomas (Airspeed). The two teams mingle, hi-fiving each other, a few man-hugs and the noise of chatter rises as they share their experiences, it’s like opening the punch at a party! Chris confides he was a bit low at the close of a 1, so extended his hands and trusted Thomas to fix it. “He could see and he has longer arms!” Both teams are loving this meet, relishing this battle of all time. “Love thine enemies” has never been so true.
#Female 4-way
Everyone is amazed at the French ladies who, having lost to the Americans in Prague (September) and the Clash of Champions (November) put up the same score on the first round and beat them by one on the second. GK4 put up a stonking round 3 to make a tie. Incredible, both open and female 4-way are tied at the top. Hard to believe considering just 2 months ago at the WISC in Prague, the US ladies beat the same French team by 42 points! “The French probably had more space to grow, they are a young team” said Eliana.
Round 4 – The Golden Knights ladies had a dive that looked good but picked up two double-busts (separation issues), losing FOUR points, knocking their potential 29 down to 25. The French have an outstanding skydive and finish with 30, they have some questionable points from some of the judges but not a majority so they keep all their points. This is a shocking blow for the Americans. “I’m so sorry” I said to Jen [Davidson] “Well, we did it to ourselves” she replied, like the trooper she is. They regroup and go up for …
##Round 5 (7, 1, A)
The US ladies go first, awesome 7s (buddies) and a fantastic full-on dive, these fillies are not going to skydive cautiously that’s for sure. They romp down the finish straight to a 23.. with the point 24 just a head off the finish line. A collective groan goes round, we know how that feels to end with the grips so close but not close enough. Next, the French girls… they have a strange technique on the 1s, flying the cats cheated. I know they do that in the tunnel to squeeze it in .. initially I think it’s a mistake but they do it every time so I assume it’s intentional. They finish on a 21, so GK4 has taken 2 points back, and are 3 points behind now we are halfway through the meet.
The WAG management had planned on at least another 2 jumps for the day.. but the wind has got up, it comes over the skyscrapers and is bumpy (“scary” said Matty of Finland freestyle) so all competitors are now on a hold (2pm). I’m almost relieved … it’s so exciting I don’t think I can take any more!
Golden Knights World Record skydive, 33 points, World Air Games, Dubai , 2015.
(F, L, B, G, P)
The video above is the world record skydive of 33 points set yesterday by the Golden Knights (USA). Full story
