posted Jul 2nd, 2019 - Reactions to the breaking news from Belgium and Arizona came from all over the planet, not only from the nearer environments of NMP PCH HayaBusa and Arizona Airspeed. The world's top teams and their coaches are observing each other very carefully, for curiosity and strategy both.

Several NSL News updates and NSL Live Talk conversations were related to the same topics last month, even though there was even more feedback than the articles have covered. French national coach Mathieu Bernier was not happy to hear about Airspeed's situation, as he is afraid that it could be too easy for NMP PCH HayaBusa to defend the world's top spot, even though he has his own priority on 8-way this year and in 2020.

His French predecessor as the national coach, Jeremie Rollett, is coaching the opposing 8-way team from Qatar (Falcons) after switching jobs with Gary Smith, who is now working with the Qatar Tigers. Gary Smith had commented the situation on June 26th.

Jeremie Rollett is a French 4-way world champion of 2010 and also won 8-way gold medals in 2006 and 2008. He said that he was shocked when he heard about the Airspeed situation: "They were tied after nine rounds in Australia, which means that this lineup was very competitive, and it would be even more true after two more years in 2020. Now, it's a big gamble changing the lineup at this point in time. Anyway, they train hard and will be ready."

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FAI outdoor medal winners in 8-way Formation Skydiving since 1985

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Gary Smith will help NMP PCH HayaBusa to defend the world championship title while trying to move the Qatar Tigers up into a medal position at the same time. He won the first FAI Formation Skydiving medals for Qatar with the 3rd place in Australia 2018, and he will try the same with the Qatar Tigers, who finished in 4th place at the same event.

Jeremie Rollett is not directly involved in the 4-way battle for medals any longer after taking over the coaching job for the Qatar Falcons. He is actually in the more challenging situation, as France will be back with a very strong 8-way team after missing the last world meet. The road to any 8-way medals in Tanay 2020 has the three 8-way powerhouses (United States - Russia - France) as very strong obstacles.

He experienced the difficulty to get to the FAI 8-way medals already at the FAI Indoor World Meet where the same three countries occupied the podium, only in a different order (United States - France - Russia).

However, his Qatar Falcons posted the team's highest indoor average (28.7) at Weembi Lille and finished only ten points behind Russia's Tanay 8-way team. The same four teams have now switched to outdoor training and competition for the remainder of the 2019 season.

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FAI Indoor World Meet 2019			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open		L,17,4	A,F,3,13	15,18,6	D,8,O,N	P,E,11,9	M,Q,J,16	C,K,19,22	10,1,7	5,G,B,2	H,21,12	Total	Avg
1	Paraclete XP8	US	38	34	33	27	29	43	29	27	28	28	316	31.6
2	France	FR	37	33	29	27	27	44	26	30	27	29	309	30.9
3	Tanay	RU	31	32	29	27	29	42	27	28	25	27	297	29.7
4	Qatar Falcons	QA	32	31	29	27	30	40	24	25	25	24	287	28.7
5	MicroClim8	UK	25	19	22	19	20	31	19	20	19	18	212	21.2
6	Why Not?	PL	23	21	21	21	21	26	18	19	19	18	207	20.7

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The Qatar Falcons are back in full training swing after the Ramadan break. Jeremie Rollett is working with the team for a whole month in Lille, France, where the proximity to the 16-foot Weembi chamber offers a good alternative for a weather situation.

Jeremie Rollett said that the Ramadan break did not have a significant impact on the team's performance level. The Qatar Falcons are a highly experienced 8-way team by now, and the re-start at the recent training camp was promising. The Falcons will visit at the German Nationals at the end of August as a warm-up event for the FAI World Cup in October.

The Falcons will attend the world cup in Eloy, as they don't have to compete at the military CISM Championships, as the Qatar Tigers have to do. The world cup in Eloy will be a great stepping stone, as France, United States and Russia will be there and create the same competitive 8-way situation that can be expected for the world meet in 2020.

The 4-way competition at the next world meet may not offer the same thriller as in 2012 and 2018. It may be the first time that the four 8-way teams will get even more attention than the best 4-way teams in the world...