World Championships, 2010, Day 1

Having arrived to Menzelinsk, Russia at lunch- time last Wednesday, the VFS competition & artistic competitions finally got underway this morning.

Wednesday was spent recovering from the long and tiring trip, Friday was used for training jumps, whilst Saturday saw the last few practice jumps and Sunday the opening ceremony and initial competition rounds for 4-way. VFS was stood down until Monday, which allowed the local hospitality and culture to be enjoyed before experiencing a very warm welcome from the town of Menzelinsk at the opening ceremony. We finally got to sample what it may be like to be a rock star, if only for 2 hours………

So on to the competition. Round 1 saw a draw of 7-J-K with the French team 4 speed leading the way with a score of 26, the reigning World Cup champions Arsenal 21, the BLT’s 16, Germany 13, Belgium 9 and the Russians 6. We were super happy with the first round, a really clean jump and a great start to our competition. Round 2 saw the potentially the most difficult round. The BLT’s scored 9 with one bust but with a relatively safe but reliable strategy. The slow round was also reflected in the top team’s scores of 16 (France) and 17 (USA). The final round for the morning was 12-B-E which were really happy with, a score of 20 giving a 12 point advantage in the round over the fourth placed German team. America and France continued to dominate with scores of 34 and 36 respectively.

Day 1 finished, can’t wait for tomorrow. Check out some of the photos from the last few days. There are DZ pictures, fellow competitors, opening ceremony and 2 people stuck in a lift for 1.5 hours……… I wonder who that could have been!

The BLT’s

Official web-page:

http://www.wpc2010.skyjump.ru/

Results:

http://www.omniskore.com

Photos so far:

http://thebadlieutenants.com/photos/?album=1&gallery=10

Video from the first day

http://thebadlieutenants.com/videos/world-championship-day-1/