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“During its meeting held on 29 August 2002, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board discussed the Olympic programme for the future Games of the Olympiad, specifically the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in 2008 in Beijing. Following the recommendations of the Olympic Programme Commission, the IOC Executive Board decided not to admit parachuting to the Programme of Beijing 2008,” announced the Federation Aeronauique Internationale. And with that, skydiving remains shunned from the Olympics. According to the FAI, “The Olympic Programme Commission pointed out that any changes in the structure of the Olympic Programme should result in increased value and appeal of the Olympic Games; that global public and media interest should be considered as key elements in the analyses of sports; and that sports should give special emphasis to youth and development.” It seems that the IOC Executive Board does not believe skydiving will add any measurable value to the Olympics. In a prior meeting, the argument was made that “the Olympic motto ‘Citius, Altius, Fortius’ (‘Swifter, Higher, Stronger’) is a very noble one,” said FAI President Wolfgang Weinreich, “but until at least one air sport is included in the Games, ‘Altius’ remains a dream.” This was the third attempt to add sport parachuting to the Olympics. Still, all is not lost according to the FAI. “By interpreting Rule 52, Paragraph 4.2 of the Olympic Charter (‘…events in which performance depends essentially on mechanical propulsion are not acceptable’) as not applying when mechanical propulsion is used purely as technical support for the competition in areas unrelated to the sporting performance itself, the IOC left the door open for future bids by air sports such as parachuting.” Keep up with further developments on sport parachuting’s attempts to become an Olympic sport at http://www.fai.org/parachuting/.

Much of the recent focus for the 4-way open class has centered on DeLand Majik’s recent record scores and victory over Airspeed Vertical. But obviously, the Army’s Golden Knights had their sights on the gold as well as Golden Knights Gold topped both teams at the 2002 U.S. National Skydiving Championships this past weekend. The Golden Knights finished three points ahead of Vertical. Majik finished third, three points behind Vertical. The race for gold was up for grabs until round 5, when the Knights posted a 29 to Vertical’s 26 and Majik’s 24. Here’s the report on the round by the Wagners’ at Omniskore.com, “Golden Knights Gold up next...these guys are whipping it...WOW, they spanked that round with a 29! So smooth and clean, I'd have never thought that was going to be a 29...and it's logged spotless, that was one of the best jumps I've ever seen. Vertical is next...a good jump, but three less than GK Gold for a 26...here's Majik's round 5, a good skydive except for one big glitch in the middle, it's a 26 -- is it clean? -- another look, yep it looks like a 0I, how will this go down...okay, three judges popped the 10th formation, and two the 11th, so that goes down as a single bust, the score is a 24. The Golden Knights have a 3/7 lead after five rounds!” And that lead would hold for the next 5 rounds, earning the Knights a trip to the 2003 World Meet representing the U.S. as the National Champion. In the advanced class, Nemesis earned its first gold medal in 4-way after winning the silver and bronze medals at the Nationals in prior years. Nemesis, a Georgia 4-way team, actually finished tied for first with the Angry Beez of North Carolina after 10 rounds. An 11th round jump-off was tied as well. The tie-breaking procedures eventually went back to round 9 where Nemesis topped the Angry Beez 16 to 13. See all these teams and more compete for the NSL title in November at Fantasy of Flight.