posted Jul 15th, 2020 - The NSL News reported on June 23rd that 4-way Women world champion Clementine Praet will not continue as a member of the new and young French 8-way team that impressed the Formation Skydiving competition world with the 2nd place behind Russia at the FAI Outdoor World Cup 2019.

The update from France mentioned that national coach Mathieu Bernier was filling the open 8-way slot until he would have a solution for the new situation. He looked at the available options considering the time-frame until the FAI Mondial 2020 in Tanay next year and eventually decided that he will continue as an active member of the 8-way team.

Clementine Praet will try to defend her 4-way Women title with two of her team mates in Australia 2018 (Sophia Pecout, Christine Malnis) and new 4-way and 8-way member Gaelle Giesen. Mathieu Bernier will try to add the 4th world championship 8-way title to his belt. He has also won a 4-way gold medal in Menzelinsk 2010.

Mathieu Bernier adds a wealth of 8-way knowledge and experiences to the team. He has been coaching the 8-way team since he selected the members according to his daring plan for the Mondial 2020 that the NSL News introduced on 21 June 2019 and commented for Blue Skies Mag on 27 September 2019. As an active member of the team, he has now the opportunity to collect even more insights for his coaching job.

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FAI World Meet 2006			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open		8,O,Q,F	16,15,9	4,J,6	19,20,D	7,5,1	10,12,A	-	-	-	-	Total	Avg
1	Maubeuge NPC	FR	18	25	26	18	18	18	-	-	-	-	123	20.5
2	Arizona Airspeed	US	18	23	24	18	17	19	-	-	-	-	119	19.8
3	R.T. Evolution Pro	RU	16	19	23	15	15	16	-	-	-	-	104	17.3
FAI World Meet 2008			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open		17,P,4	H,13,7	6,M,1	9,22,C	16,J,8	K,F,G,18	O,Q,5,12	-	-	-	Total	Avg
1	Maubeuge NPC	FR	23	18	26	22	22	24	16	-	-	-	151	21.6
2	USA	US	18	18	26	21	22	19	16	-	-	-	140	20.0
3	Ex3mo	IT	20	16	22	17	18	18	15	-	-	-	126	18.0
FAI World Meet 2010			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open		3,21,N	6,20,9	E,G,17,5	K,16,2	12,C,22	B,D,M,1	7,15,J	13,L,P,11	4,18,O	10,14,19	Total	Avg
1	Maubeuge NPC	FR	25	19	16	21	22	25	18	19	23	15	203	20.3
2	Golden Knights	US	23	17	18	20	22	27	20	17	21	11	196	19.6
3	Barkli	RU	20	19	16	17	22	20	18	19	20	14	185	18.5

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Mathieu Bernier for France in 8-way Open at the FAI World Meet 2008 and 2010

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France and the U.S. national 8-way team Paraclete XP8 are now in a very similar position, where the team leaders and most experienced 8-way competitors (Mathieu Bernier, Matt Davidson, Kirk Verner, Brian Krause) are in the active lineup. Only Russia's Tanay 8-way team has an external coach with Airspeed 4-way and 8-way world champion Craig Girard.

Mathieu Bernier won his FAI 8-way gold medals in 2006, 2008 and 2010 when Jerome David was the national coach. Emmanuel Sarrazin was the team leader in 2006 and 2008, and Erwan Pouliquen assisted Jerome David with the 8-way coaching in 2008 and 2010. Mathieu Bernier learned the practical coaching techniques at that time, before he studied sports at university to take the position of the French national coach later.

First he continued in 4-way and 8-way both and added silver (8-way) and bronze (4-way) medals to his collection in Dubai 2012. Jeremie Rollett had replaced Jerome David as the national coach after Menzelinsk 2010, and Mathieu Bernier was at his 3rd consecutive world meet with 4-way and 8-way double duties in Dubai.

Two years later, he competed only in 4-way at the world meet in Prostejov 2014, together with his long-time team mate Julien Degen. It turned out to be his first world meet without stepping onto the FAI podium.

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FAI World Meet 2010			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		10,7,12	3,11,5	J,M,Q,P,L	19,1,13	N,18,20	K,17,8	2,15,H	4,D,6	O,E,9,G	22,B,16	Total	Avg
1	Aerodyne Aerokart	FR	21	22	56	20	22	24	22	24	40	26	277	27.7
2	Arizona Airspeed	US	22	21	53	23	20	24	23	25	40	23	274	27.4
3	Sky Panthers Barkli	RU	19	21	56	21	19	21	23	22	41	21	264	26.4

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Mathieu Bernier for France in 4-way Open at the FAI World Meet 2010

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Mathieu Bernier became the new French national coach when Jeremie Rollett stepped back to accept the coaching position for Qatar's Formation Skydiving competition teams after the FAI World Meet 2014. He brought back several 8-way world champions of 2006 - 2010, including himself, and won back the silver medal position for France, plus bronze in 4-way Open and silver in 4-way Women.

Then his budget for the national teams was cut, and France did not even send an 8-way team to Australia in 2018, where the Weembi Girls won gold and the new 4-way Open lineup bronze. It was Mathieu Bernier's first world meet since 2006 where he did not compete in one of the active lineups.

It was only a 2-year break, as it turns out after Clementine Praet's decision to step back in 8-way. Mathieu Bernier will be a training and competing national coach between now and the FAI Mondial in Tanay next year.

The French Formation Skydiving delegation is looking back at a very successful history of teams with a mixture of young talent and highly experienced team members. The current 8-way lineup was probably the youngest one with Clementine Praet, and Mathieu Bernier is lifting the average age - in exchange for a unique wealth of 8-way insights and experiences...