posted Sep 10th, 2003 - What a meet. Round nine set the teams in the final medal positions. Nothing will change anymore in the remaining round ten. V-Max showed all the confidence they needed and followed their plan to skydive hard, even as the leader of the pack. It worked. The 16 points for round nine was a good score. However, the security of the gold medal position came more with help by the Norgie Girls. The sympathetic team from Scandinavia did not like this sequence. The exit and their continuity plan forced them into B-slots for the difficult Block 18 (Zircon - Zircon) too many times. And it showed. Missed block completions kept the score on a lower level. A penalty for a lost grip during the Inter of Block 3 (Side Flake Opal - Turf) added to the damage. The gold medal is now out of reach. Round ten is only left for the records.

While the Norgie Girls are safely in second position, it was time for redemption for the U.S. team. They cannot catch Norway anymore, and they probably never felt as a part of the competition for the bronze medal. All they had to do is show the audience why they had the gold medal in mind when they came to France. So they did - for the first time in this competition. Round nine was the first round for Synchronicity where they tied the highest score of a round. And they finally gained the respect from the audience. With this good performance, the U.S. team easily took control over the bronze medal situation. Only the fourth place will be left for France or Italy who still delivered great performances at this World Meet. One more round for the audience.