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Did You Know...

... that Michelle Karamon shares a lot with Eliana Rodriguez?

4-way Open Class world champions: Craig Girard - Natasha Montgomery - Eliana Rodriguez
posted Jan 4th, 2026 - The recent announcement by Arizona Airspeed is likely to remain a major topic in the NSL News for some time. Not long ago, new Airspeed member Michelle Karamon was already featured in her own NSL Profile.

Her profile was part of an NSL News initiative aimed at creating a better balance between male and female formation skydiving competition athletes. As the introduction to her profile explained:

“Male formation skydiving competitors still dominate the list of NSL Profiles, even though many female competitors have achieved the same accomplishments in their careers and consistently match the performance quality of their male counterparts. There are too many examples to leave any doubt about gender equality in potential, talent, skills, experience, and achievement. In particular, 4-way and 8-way formation skydiving competitions provide an environment where even freefall video footage would not reveal whether a performer is male or female.”

There could be no stronger confirmation of this statement than Michelle Karamon’s selection as the newest member of Arizona Airspeed. The team’s three male members—Joey Marshall, Alisson de Vargas, and Doug Hendrix—along with team videographer Alex Swindle, clearly agreed to replace reigning two-time 4-way world champion Chris Kuhlmann with only the second female competitor in Airspeed’s history, following Eliana Rodriguez.

FAI Outdoor World Championship 2001
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Total Avg
Rank 4-way Women 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 Synchronicity US 13 13 13 12 14 14 15 16 13 24 147 14.7
2 TNT NO 13 15 15 13 13 12 13 15 13 22 144 14.4
3 4 Pleasure SE 13 15 14 13 14 14 14 15 12 19 143 14.3
4 V-Max UK 9 15 14 12 14 14 13 16 13 21 141 14.1
5 Russia RU 11 11 12 12 9 12 12 13 11 12 115 11.5
6 South Africa ZA 12 12 11 9 11 8 11 13 10 16 113 11.3
7 Italy IT 10 10 11 9 5 11 11 9 11 - 87 9.7
8 Parat DE 8 10 8 7 9 9 9 9 6 - 75 8.3
9 Spain ES 4 7 6 4 8 6 4 9 5 - 53 5.9
10 Austria AT 6 4 5 4 3 6 5 7 6 - 46 5.1
Airspeed 8-way lineup at the USPA Nationals 2023
Eliana Rodriguez and Michelle Karamon have much in common, particularly in how their world-champion careers were launched. Eliana Rodriguez earned her first FAI gold medal in 4-way Women in Spain 2001 with Synchronicity, then followed up with an 8-way Open gold medal at Rijeka 2004 as a member of Arizona Airspeed. She later became the first female competitor to complete the rare and prestigious FS Sweep by winning 4-way Open gold in Maubeuge 2008 with Airspeed Odyssey.

Michelle Karamon is now on a path toward the same achievement—but in reverse order. She first claimed 8-way Open gold at Tanay 2021 and Eloy 2022, followed by 4-way Women gold at Crystal Coast 2024, alongside her former teammate Jeana Billings.

Both athletes share this distinguished combination of titles with former Golden Knights member Jennifer Davidson, who won 4-way Women gold in Ottawa 2016 and Crystal Coast 2024, as well as 8-way Open gold in Australia 2018. Jen Davidson also holds the unique distinction of being the only female competitor to have flown on any Golden Knights 8-way lineup in history. As a new member of Arizona Airspeed, Michelle Karamon now has the opportunity to complete her own special FS Sweep. However, this goal will require time, as her new team team noted in its official announcement: “We have already begun training and will be competing at The Wind Games at the end of the month and Indoor Nationals in February as we begin our journey to win the 2028 World Meet.”

FAI Outdoor World Championship 2004
123456789TotalAvg
Rank8-way OpenB,P,C,189,15,16K,11,19E,F,7,5A,J,21,126,4,1017,Q,L,1H,14,313,22,OTotalAvg
1Arizona Airspeed US 20231617192019211717219.1
2Maubeuge FR 21191616202019201816918.8
3Evolution Pro RU 18201716181920201916718.6
4Remscheid DE 15171311141612141412614.0
5Ex3mo IT 12151411151613151412513.9
6Australia AU 1012999910119889.8
7South Africa ZA 12106691191010839.2
8Austria AT 101099810998829.1
9Great Britain UK 1069989879758.3
10Japan JP 969659757637.0
Michelle Karamon and Eliana Rodriguez for the Arizona Skydiving League/Tribe
Since 2019, Michelle Karamon has spent most of her training and competition time either with Jeana Billings, Jen Davidson, or both. In contrast, she has competed alongside Eliana Rodriguez only once so far, as part of the Arizona Airspeed 8-way lineup in 2023. Despite limited competition overlap, Karamon and Rodriguez are connected in several other meaningful ways, as Arizona Airspeed noted in the official announcement:

“Michelle has also been heavily involved in the Arizona skydiving community, organizing and mentoring jumpers in both local competitions with the Arizona Skydiving Tribe and women’s bigway records.”

Together, Michelle Karamon and Eliana Rodriguez have managed the Arizona Skydiving Tribe following the transition of the Arizona Skydiving League between 2019 and 2021. The league had previously been part of the Southwest Skydiving League many years earlier.

Michelle Karamon even quoted Eliana Rodriguez on her NSL Profile: “Start before you’re ready.” The message likely resonated with her, reflecting Eliana Rodriguez’s early years after moving to Arizona, before securing her Airspeed slot. By that time, Eliana Rodriguez had already won her first world championship title in 4-way Women with the U.S. East Coast team Synchronicity and was clearly aiming higher.

Michelle Karamon has followed a similar mindset. After winning her own 4-way Women world championship gold medal, she set her sights on more—and has successfully taken the next step in her career. Both Karamon and Rodriguez also share another parallel in their personal lives, as they are partnered with 4-way world champions Niklas Hemlin and Craig Girard, respectively.

FAI Outdoor World Championship 2008
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Total Avg
Rank 4-way Open Top 6 B,17,7 H,N,13,A 10,J,C,6 18,12,2 E,3,9 19,O,4 D,M,5,16 14,20,21 Total Avg
1 Airspeed Odyssey US 30 32 24 16 29 21 28 15 195 24.4
2 Maubeuge FR 28 30 23 17 27 23 28 18 194 24.3
3 HayaBusa Defence BE 27 33 23 17 27 22 25 17 191 23.9
4 Sky Panthers Barkli RU 28 30 22 16 28 20 27 17 188 23.5
5 Arcteryx NO 27 29 21 17 25 21 26 14 180 22.5
6 Evolution CA 25 27 22 17 24 18 26 16 175 21.9

Airspeed Odyssey at the FAI Outdoor World Championship 2008
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