posted Aug 16th, 2022 - The latest NSL News visit at Skydive Paraclete XP happened when the XP8-way team had scheduled their next outdoor training camp. It did not start out perfectly due to the current weather situation in North Carolina, and the first training day had to be called after only two jumps in the morning.

The weather forecast was not much better for Tuesday, and XP8 took once again advantage of the proximity to Paraclete XP's 16-foot flying chamber. However, even the weather situation on Monday had its benefits, as the team members had enough time for other activities, including a new NSL Live Talk conversation.

It was one of the most interesting topics in the history of Formation Skydiving competition that was directly relating to four of the XP8 members, and the recent NSL News visit at Paraclete had this topic on the top of the priority list.

It's been the 4-way/8-way double duties at world championships that has been one of the most fascinating topics over the years of NSL News. It is as special as it has been featured in the past, and French national coach Mathieu Bernier is still the only Formation Skydiving competitor who has mastered the double-gold challenge at the same event.

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NSL Live Talk with Michelle Karamon - Jeana Billings - Kirk Verner - Craig Girard

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The four XP8 members are not in the same 4-way lineup, as Mathieu Bernier was in Menzelinsk 2010. In fact, he was the only 8-way member who competed in 4-way at the same time. The XP8 lineup includes two members, who will try to win their second event at the same event, the 4-way Women competition.

Jerome David, French national coach in 2010, had built his FS delegation with the goal to win all four sets of medals (4-way Open, 4-way Women, 4-way VFS, 8-way Open). Mathieu Bernier's three 4-way team mates (Guillaume Bernier, Julien Degen, Jeremie Rollet) did not compete in 8-way, even though they had enough own experiences after doing so in 2006 and 2008. They had the goal to make it as easy and comfortable for Mathieu Bernier, together with his other seven 8-way team mates.

XPG4 members Jeana Billings and Michelle Karamon seem to have a very similar support team as Mathieu Bernier had it in 2010. Both teams, XP8 and XPG4, are fully aware of the challenging situation that their two team mates have subscribed to, and 4-way coach Niklas Hemlin will also be at the competition site for support. The situation seems to be even more promising, compared to the French double-duty situation in Menzelinsk 2010.

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FAI World Meet 1999			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		9,24,A	O,M,2,Q	14,P,11	19,3,15	N,8,12	C,1,E,20	K,23,17	B,16,21	L,22,J,7	G,5,6	Total	Avg
1	Maubeuge	FR	23	23	18	19	18	24	21	21	21	20	208	20.8
2	Arizona Airspeed	US	23	24	19	16	17	26	19	19	20	19	202	20.2
3	DeLand Norgies	NO	21	23	16	17	16	23	20	19	20	16	191	19.1
Rank	8-way Open		15,7,13	B,12,E,3	20,K,11	23,H,J	F,2,8	D,6,P,22	N,A,M,G,16	21,L,14	10,C,4	1,9,O	Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	22	25	20	20	16	22	25	19	21	21	211	21.1
2	Russia	RU	20	23	20	23	14	19	26	19	22	23	209	20.9
3	Maubeuge	FR	15	21	22	23	13	21	26	19	20	20	200	20.0

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The French delegation of 2010 had a lot of experiences with 4-way/8-way double duties, after the previous double-gold attempts in 2006 and 2008. Jerome David used them as much as possible to be ready for the next and successful attempt in Menzelinsk 2010.

The Paraclete lineups of the U.S. delegation, XP8 and XPG4, can use their own experiences to support Jeana Billings and Michelle Karamon. Kirk Verner and Craig Girard both had their own share of experiences with exactly the same situation earlier in their world-champion careers.

Kirk Verner's complete original Airspeed lineup tried to win FAI gold medals in 4-way and 8-way after their first two FAI 4-way gold medals in 1995 and 1997. He ended up with silver in 4-way and gold in 8-way in Corowa 1999, where 8-way team mate Craig Girard supported the 4-way effort. Craig Girard tried the same two years later with the new Airspeed Vertical 4-way lineup. The original Airspeed members, including Kirk Verner, tried to support the 4-way team as good as possible. This time, it was the 4-way team winning gold medals, and the 8-way team ended up in 2nd place.

Kirk Verner and Craig Girard are fully aware of the situation that Jeana Billings and Michelle Karamon are in for, and they will support their 8-way world champion team mates of 2021 for their upcoming double-gold challenge accordingly.

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FAI World Meet 2001			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		8,19,24	A,L,22,H	E,10,D,11	21,6,4	B,18,C,14	G,5,20	2,1,16	M,K,12,9	15,23,P	O,17,Q,N	Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	19	25	21	19	20	20	20	23	17	30	214	21.4
2	Maubeuge	FR	19	20	20	18	21	21	19	23	20	31	212	21.2
3	DeLand Norgies	NO	19	22	20	18	19	19	19	21	18	31	206	20.6
Rank	8-way Open		16,P,13	1,Q,O,5	B,K,6,8	15,9,19	21,12,20	L,7,G,H	J,F,M,C,22	3,18,17	E,11,A,14	4,D,2	Total	Avg
1	Russia	RU	19	15	18	17	17	21	22	22	19	23	193	19.3
2	Arizona Airspeed	US	19	17	17	17	19	23	21	21	19	19	192	19.2
3	France	FR	16	17	16	15	19	20	20	18	18	20	179	17.9

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