posted Aug 15th, 2008 - It came as it had to be expected: it is a beautiful Friday morning with clear skies and lots of sunshine. One more day of competition, before or after the dedicated five days, would have completed the meet. That's how it goes, and the IPC committee will take a closer look at the rules for the event duration.

Thursday was a great day of celebration though. The airshow and award ceremony at the dropzone attracted once again a large crowd of spectators. It was a wonderful presentation of the sport to the general public. The TV and print media participated very well in the event and covered it consistently. And that wasn't easy since the Olympics were happening at the same time.

The NSL News coverage of the FAI World Meet 2008 is brought to you with the help of:

The award ceremony was followed by the closing banquet later in the evening.

All 334 competitors with their delegation staff and the officials and event organizers joined to celebrate the skydiving community in a townhall of Maubeuge. The dinner party lasted almost all night.

It was a great time in Maubeuge, but the day after is always a sad affair at the competition site. Even the beautiful weather could not make the dropzone look much happier. The crowds, the activities, the action was missing, and it gives a very empty feeling. However, it will be "only" two years until the next World Championship of Formation Skydiving, and there is still a World Cup coming in between, next year in the Czech Republic.

The NSL News has loads of material to follow up on the World Meet 2008. Nathan Polis still collected and processed a lot of footage for upcoming stories. The NSL News was only able to provide more information than ususal because of the help of the young Hayabusa fan from Belgium, thanks again.

Father Bernard, multiple Belgian Accuracy champion, and grandfather Jean Polis, former Co-President of the Belgian Parachuting Federation and IPC Delegate, were planning to pick him up after the award ceremony. He was so busy finishing his work for the NSL News that the Polis family could not leave before early evening...

One of his next pieces has already been uploaded and is now available for a special reason.

It is a part of the last Fun Flag update from Maubeuge. The NSL News interviewed Bodyflight Storm in the middle of the first celebrations and before the award ceremony. The video of the interview can be viewed by clicking here.

It happened to be the next showing of the Fun Flag at the same time. The UK team Fusion had successfully defended the possession of the Fun Flag with the help of the whole UK delegation. By the way: the NSL News finally received the photo of the police investigating the crime scene when the Fun Flag got ripped during the attack of the Vikings.

The meet was over, and Douglas McLelland took down the flag for the UK delegation and Team Fusion to keep it protected on the way home. He had it in his backpack, and it seemed to be in a very safe spot.

It was one of the biggest surprises in the Fun Flag history when it all of a sudden appeared in the middle of the award ceremony on the podium. The original owners of the flag, the Golden Knights, had taken care of business in the meantime and proudly presented it on the biggest stage of skydiving competition. The US 8-way team was apparently the real winner in Maubeuge.

There is no video or other visual evidence of what had happened. However, the NSL News found an eye witness who was at the right spot at the right time. Former 4-way world champion and Evolution coach Shannon Pilcher explained how the US delegation captured the Fun Flag at lunch time in the restaurant tent:

"Douglas McLelland had lunch with his team and some friends and had placed the backpack under his chair. Somebody obviously knew that the Fun Flag was in his backpack.

Suddenly there was some noise, somebody ran to the chair, grabbed the backpack and ran away with it. Another member of the US delegation followed the runner. They had a plan."

The plan worked well - at a certain point in time. It was the biggest surprise of the whole event when the Fun Flag was in US possession during the 8-way award ceremony. It seemd as if the flag would go back to where it was created many years ago and stay there until the next major event. The US 8-way team with six Golden Knights had deserved this victory.

It still seems as if this was not the end of the Fun Flag story in Maubeuge. Fusion member Simon Cathrine told the NSL News at the dinner party in the evening that the Fun Flag was back in UK possession and will make the trip to the United Kingdom as it was planned.

He had no evidence for this claim, which really puts a questionmark behind it. It surely would be an amazing end of the Maubeuge story if the UK delegation first fended off the attack of the Vikings, then lost the flag in a poor way and had the courage and trickery to win it back in time. However, the NSL News is waiting for hard evidence to confirm this end of the story. At the moment, the last photo shows the Fun Flag in US possession.

Fun Flag at the World Meet 2008
Where is the Fun Flag now, after the very end of the whole event?	United Kingdom USA
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