posted Feb 4th, 2016 - The top position of the 2015 world rankings in 8-way are the easiest one to define, as there cannot be a serious question mark behind the dominating position of the Golden Knights.

The U.S. Army team is the reigning 8-way world champion of 2012 and 2014 and posted a new world record for a single round last year. The Golden Knights are also the only 8-way team in the world at the moment with meet averages well above the 20-average benchmark.

This does not mean that the U.S. delegation has the 8-way gold medals at the Mondial 2016 in the bag, as Russia and France will do everything it takes this year to get within striking distance. However, there is no doubt that the Golden Knights had the No. 1 position in the world last year, indoor and outdoor.

Rank	Team World Rankings 8-way	Country	Averages	Best 3
1	Golden Knights	United States	23.7 - 22.2	23.0
2	France Weembi	France	21.5 - 17.2	19.4
3	Tanay	Russia	18.5 - 18.0	18.3
4	Arizona Airspeed	United States	17.7	17.7
5	Thund8rbirds	Belgium	16.3	16.3
6	Dubai Asaar	United Arab Emirates	14.7	14.7
7	M8trix	Netherlands	13.6 - 13.9	13.8
8	Qatar Falcons	Qatar	14.3 - 13.1 - 13.8	13.7
9	Ex-Presidents	Great Britain	12.9	12.9
10	Microclim8	Great Britain	12.4 - 12.9	12.7

The 2015 world rankings of the International Parachuting Commission (IPC) and Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) yet have different results. The U.S.A. finished in 6th place of the FAI/IPC rankings.

The 6th place is not only completely unrealistic for the Golden Knights. The U.S.A. has actually two teams positioned within the Top 10 of the SKYLEAGUE.COM World Outdoor Team Rankings in 8-way. Arizona Airspeed's 8-way lineup is still generating world class 8-way scores at the national championships without any training. The 17.7 average at the USPA Nationals 2015 places Airspeed in 4th place of all 8-way teams.

However, even the U.S. 8-way combination of Golden Knights and Arizona Airspeed is not enough to take the 8-way top spot in the FAI/IPC rankings, due to the formula that defines the positions. The results at USPA Nationals, one of the largest and most relevant Formation Skydiving competitions in the world, have no impact on the FAI/IPC rankings at all.

World Air Games 2015			Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Rd 6	Rd 7	Rd 8	Rd 9	Rd 10	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open		20,13,4	F,L,B,G,P	22,D,7	14,O,5	9,C,J,H	19,K,3	Q,17,E,A	15,21,18	12,16,1	8,11,2	Total	Avg
1	Golden Knights	US	22	33	19	19	18	22	21	22	29	17	222	22.2
2	Tanay	RU	17	26	17	14	19	21	17	17	24	13	185	18.5
3	France Weembi	FR	16	23	13	15	16	20	17	17	22	13	172	17.2
4	Dubai Asaar	AE	14	17	13	14	15	16	16	16	15	11	147	14.7
5	Qatar Falcons	QA	13	16	14	10	13	16	15	14	16	11	138	13.8

France is still in 1st place of the FAI/IPC rankings, due to the country's strong positioning in Europe. France won the 8-way world medals in 2006, 2008 and 2010 before the Golden Knights terminated the French 8-way streak at the Mondial Dubai 2012.

France (Weembi) is only an inch ahead (1,494.75 - 1,493.25) of Russia (Tanay) and will try to maintain this position with the strong Weembi lineup for the Mondial 2016. Weembi is actually more focused on catching up with the Golden Knights, while Tanay's Black Cat members have double duties in 4-way and 8-way.

Arizona Airspeed and Thund8rbirds will not compete at the Mondial 2016. Dubai Asaar's 8-way team and the Qatar Falcons can be expected to compete for the 4th place at Skydive Chicago, and M8trix from the Netherlands is probably stronger than any of the current British 8-way teams. Germany's Airbus 8-way lineup has a limited training plan, as Russia, due to additional 4-way duties.