Hosts UAE picked up a second gold medal as the 4th Dubai International Parachuting Championships at the Skydive Dubai site in Jumeirah on Saturday.

The UAE had won the gold medal in the 4-way Vertical Formation Skydiving (VFS) on Thursday and they followed this up with a second gold in 8-way Vertical Formation Skydiving (VFS).

Going into the eighth and final round, the UAE was tied with Monaco with 137 points while Russia was in third place.

And the UAE stayed true to form in the last jump of the 8-way VFS competition when the team of Ali Al Neyadi, Abdul Aziz Al Shukari, Abdullah Al Shammar, Obaid Al Falasi, Abdul Rahman Al Marmari, Abdullah Al Dossary, Khalid Abdul Jalil, coach Craig Girard and Iurii Railean as cameraman claimed the top spot.

“I am so happy for what we have achieved as a team and that too in such a short period of three years. What impressed me even more is the way this team has improved and shown its abilities over a short time span,” coach Craig Girard told media.

At the end of the penultimate round on Thursday, the UAE and Monaco had been tied at the top with 137 points, while Russia had been in third with 129.

“It’s been a long three years for us as a team, but in the end we are happy that we have started winning at the highest stage,” the coach added.

This was the second major success for the UAE 8-way team following their first-ever gold medal win in the 4-way FS at the Asiania Championships held in China in October.

The UAE’s first gold medal had come through the 4-way VFS earlier on Thursday after the Skydive Dubai Nexus team of Stephanie Strange, Tim McMaster, Derek Cox, Jason Russell and Kenneth Jaworski as alternate along with cameraman Earl David had completed the eight mandatory jumps with a total of 211 points, beating challengers France into second place (184 points) and Poland in third (63 points).

The UAE had opened their medal rush with a bronze after Cornelia Mihai had taken third place in the Canopy Piloting Speed competition behind American Bartholomew Curtis and David Maleze of France earlier this week.

France had won the first medal in this competition after they were crowned champions in the Freestyle Skydiving. The French team, represented by Will Penny, had completed the mandatory seven jumps with a cumulative score of 63.4 points.

Finland had finished in second with a total of 50.4 points, while Venezuela had nipped the US to take third place with a difference of just 1.3 points.

The annual competition is held under the patronage of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Sports Council.