posted Nov 13th, 2021 - The aftermath of the USPA Nationals 2021 included several NSL News updates that pointed out how the members of Airspeed XP8, together with the additional team mates of their respective 4-way teams, dominated the national championships this year in many ways and in all Formation Skydiving events, except in 4-way VFS.

Six AZXP8 members won additional USPA 4-way gold medals, and the complete 8-way lineup added gold medals in 10-way Speed and 16-way to their collections.

Only two AZXP8 members, John A'Annunzio and Brian Krause, did not compete in 4-way, while they still won their 10-way and 16-way gold medals with AZXP10 and AZXPGK. Niklas Hemlin, Mikhail Markine and Chris Kuhlmann won in 4-way Open with Arizona Airspeed, Jeana Billings and Michelle Karamon with XPG4 in 4-way Women, Kirk Verner with Lightspeed XP in 4-way Advanced.

Airspeed XP8 still had to be ready for a challenge by the Golden Knights in 8-way and did not know how serious the situation would be in their main event. The 4-way competition is traditionally the opening event of traditional Formation Skydiving at USPA Nationals, and the AZXP8 members had to switch to 8-way mode after giving the 4-way events their full attention for the first two days.

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USPA Nationals 2021		1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open	2,10,K		M,8,21		5,17,9		N,O,1,F		E,C,B,11		O,12,G,6		7,A,4		3,15,H		22,18,13		14,L,16		Total	Avg
1	Airspeed XP8	13	-1	17		17		25		21		18		22		27		18		22		200	20.0
2	Golden Knights	13	-1	17		15		24		19		17	-1	16	-2	23	-1	19		19		182	18.2
3	The Expendables	15		13	-1	13	-1	19		17		15	-1	19		20	-2	17		17		165	16.5
4	Prison 9	12		11		11		15	-1	13		11	-1	14		16	-1	11		13		127	12.7
5	Le Jacques Huit	6		9		9		12		9		9		9		10		6		9		88	8.8
6	Forced Open	7		9		7		11		9		9		9		8	-3	10		8		87	8.7

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Airspeed XP8 at the USPA Nationals 2021 and the FAI Tanay Mondial 2021 - Video Footage Courtesy of USPA/OmniSkore!HD

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12 weeks had passed since Airspeed XP8 won the world championship title at the FAI Tanay Mondial 2020, and the extremely exciting 1-point battle with the French national 8-way team had required all energy and efforts that the team could muster in Russia.

Airspeed XP8 had to direct all attention to the FAI Tanay Mondial in August, where the currently two strongest opponents in the world were waiting for the U.S. team. However, little over two months later, another 8-way powerhouse would also be ready to challenge Airspeed XP8, the U.S. Army's Golden Knights.

The U.S. Army's 8-way team had dominated this event in the 80's and 90's before former Golden Knight Craig Girard moved to Arizona and built the first Airspeed 8-way team, with all members of the original 4-way lineup. The next 8-way decade in the United States was dominated by Airspeed, and Golden Knights team captain of 2009, Brian Krause, brought the U.S. Army team back to the 8-way top in 2010. That's when the next 8-way decade of the Golden Knights began, and they won nine USPA 8-way gold medals and four world championship titles consecutively.

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USPA Nationals 2019			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open		13,16,20		C,B,M,D,1		N,Q,17,D		5,L,E,21		P,15,12		14,4,22		10,O,9		F,19,8		11,7,18		2,6,A		Total	Avg
1	XP8	US	19	-1	24		22		19		24		20		17		16	-1	17	-1	19		197	19.7
2	Golden Knights	US	18	-1	23		17	-5	18	-1	24		19	-1	16		17		18	-1	19		189	18.9
3	Arizona Airspeed	US	16	-2	21		21		17		18	-2	19	-1	16		15		15	-2	16		174	17.4
4	Amphibious Attack Tigers	US	9		13		12		12		13		9	-1	10		11		8	-2	10		107	10.7
5	SDC Rhythm 9 XP	US	12		10	-2	9	-3	10	-1	11		12		10		9		11		10		104	10.4
6	Monster Mix	US	7	-4	10		9		9		9	-1	10	-1	9		9		8		9		89	8.9
7	Perris Riot!	US	9		7	-2	8		8		8	-1	9		9		9		9		7	-1	83	8.3
8	Fusion XP	US	7		8	-1	8	-1	9	-1	9		10		6	-1	7		7	-2	9		80	8.0
9	Lite 8	US	7		4	-2	6		6		4	-1	6	-1	6		4		5		7		55	5.5

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XP8 - Golden Knights at the USPA Nationals 2019 - Video Footage Courtesy of USPA/OmniSkore!HD

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It lasted throughout the FAI Outdoor World Meet 2018 in Australia, where the Golden Knights won the 4th set of FAI gold medals. That was the time when John D'Annunzio, Kirk Verner and Brian Krause decided to build their new Paraclete XP 8-way team. A year later, they defeated the new Golden Knights lineup at the USPA Nationals 2021 and qualified as the U.S. national 8-way team for the FAI Tanay Mondial 2020.

The very well trained AZXP8 lineup of 2021, now reigning 8-way world champions, still had to expect a strong U.S. Army team in Eloy. The Golden Knights had lost the 8-way competition at the USPA Nationals 2019, however, they finished only eight points behind XP8 in 2019 and won the total of the last three outdoor rounds that both teams completed together two years ago.

It turned out that the Golden Knights could not offer the expected 8-way opposition after a few changes in the lineup, even though Airspeed XP8 did not perform on the same top level as they did in Russia at the world meet. The 20.0 average was still more than enough to defend the USPA 8-way title successfully.

The Golden Knights were at least strong enough to hold off a very colorful Airspeed 8-way lineup, who called themselves "The Expendables" this year. Several Airspeed 4-way and 8-way generations joined forces with two Golden Knights (Kurt Isenbarger, Carey Mills). Matt Davidson was also back in action and connected Airspeed with Golden Knights history.

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Golden Knights - The Expendables at the USPA Nationals 2021 - Video Footage Courtesy of USPA/OmniSkore!HD

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