posted Jan 26th, 2026 - Since 1985, the William H. Ottley Sword—awarded to the 8-way world champions and also known as the 8-way Excalibur—has carried only the names of team members from the United States, France, and Russia. Over the same period, the 4-way Excalibur has been shared exclusively by teams from France, Belgium, and the United States.

In 8-way competition, only one ten-year span—or six outdoor world championships between 2001 and 2010—saw the same three nations share titles. U.S. teams dominated early, winning eight consecutive world championship titles from 1985 to 1999, followed by another streak of seven consecutive titles from 2012 through 2024. Arizona Airspeed added another U.S. victory in 2004, during a transitional phase between Russian and French dominance.

The national 8-way teams from the United States (XP8) and Russia (Tanay 8) last faced each other in indoor competition at the world championship in Weembi Lille 2019. They met once more at the outdoor world championship in Tanay 2021. Nearly seven years passed before XP8 and Tanay 8 appeared together at the same indoor competition again—this time at the Air World Championships 2026 at CLYMB Abu Dhabi, featuring its 32-foot flying chamber, currently the largest in the world.

FAI/ISC 8-way world champions in the history of Formation Skydiving since 1985

---

XP8 won the previous indoor competition at Weembi Lille in 2019, where France finished second and Tanay 8 placed third. This time, however, the outcome was different. Last week, the Russian 8-way team outscored the U.S. team by three points at the indoor competition.

Tanay 8 had already defeated XP8 twice in outdoor competition in 2019—first as a guest team at the USPA Nationals 2019, and again one month later at the FAI Outdoor World Cup 2019.

Until now, however, Tanay 8 had not managed to win an indoor competition against XP8, who benefited in the past from unlimited access to the Paraclete XP wind tunnel with its 16-foot flying chamber.

That advantage has narrowed. Russian teams now have access to their own flying chambers that support 8-way indoor training and competition, and they have also been training and competing at the world’s largest facilities since CLYMB Abu Dhabi opened to the public in November 2019.

Earlier this month, the Tunnel Racing Association hosted the Air World Championships 2026 at CLYMB Abu Dhabi, featuring 4-way, 8-way, and 16-way competition. Members of XP8 assembled a 16-way team, while the newly formed XP 8-way lineup faced six other 8-way teams in Abu Dhabi, including Tanay 8.

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

---

XP8 - Tany 8 at the FAI Indoor World Championship 2019

---

It turned out to be the most exciting 8-way battle ever contested between these two teams, ultimately decided by a three-point margin in favor of Tanay 8. The Russian team came close to its standing team record average of 29.7, which it had posted while earning third place at the indoor world championship at Weembi Lille in 2019.

The 2019 competition draw included an 8-way Super Sequence (M, Q, J, 16) in Round 6, which allowed all teams to significantly boost their meet averages. Tanay 8’s 42-point round laid the foundation for its standing record average. XP8 went on to win the competition, while Martial Ferré’s French 8-way team still holds the highest single-round score in 8-way history at an FAI/ISC world championship or world cup with a 44-pointer. By comparison, the highest scores in Abu Dhabi were two 34-point rounds: one by Tanay 8 in Round 3 (B, D, 12, K) and one by XP8 in Round 9 (F, 6, 3).

Most FAI/ISC indoor events have been hosted in 14-foot flying chambers, which do not provide sufficient space for true 8-way performance and therefore limit the possibility of new 8-way record averages. The next Indoor World Cup will reunite the world’s top 8-way teams at Weembi Lille, where the reigning XP8 indoor and outdoor world champions will also face strong French home teams.

Before traveling to France in April, XP8’s new lineup will be tested at the national indoor championships at the end of February on Paraclete home turf. The 28.3 average achieved in Abu Dhabi now serves as the new benchmark for the three reigning indoor world champions of April 2025—Jeana Billings, Kirk Verner, and Matt Davidson—together with their five new teammates: Jennifer Davidson, Doug Barron, James Hall, Carl Kallgren, and Brandon Kashani.

EEIPC Air World Championships 2026			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open		16,8,17	9,Q,M,J	B,D,12,K	13,1,11	21,15,5	N,L,O,20	22,P,19	C,E,H,2	F,6,3	A,4,14	Total	Avg
1	Russia Tanay	RU	28	31	34	26	25	31	25	25	32	29	286	28.6
2	Paraclete XP8	US	27	29	30	28	24	28	25	27	34	31	283	28.3
3	Kuzbass	AE	21	25	23	19	19	24	21	16	23	24	215	21.5
4	Mandatory Fun!	US	15	14	16	13	14	14	15	13	17	14	145	14.5
5	Jet Lagged	US	14	14	13	13	10	13	12	10	15	11	125	12.5
6	The Clueless Three	US	11	11	11	11	13	12	10	12	12	14	117	11.7
7	Can We Use The Whole Tunnel	US	11	9	13	12	12	9	9	11	12	13	111	11.1

---

Tanay 8 - XP8 at the Air World Championships 2026 in Abu Dhabi

---