Staff Sgt. Norma Estrella, women's 4-way team member for the Golden Knights, practices exiting the aircraft for the 4th Military World Games. (Photo by U.S. Army) The U.S. Army Parachute Team, the Golden Knights, has returned from Hyderabad, India adding gold, silver and a new record to their list of accomplishments.
Among heightened security, the team competed in the 4th Military World Games of Conseil International du Sport Militaire, or CISM, the military equivalent to the Olympics, against teams from 100 countries.
Taking gold in formation skydiving was the women's 4-way freefall formation team with 26 points, a new military world record, beating out the 25-point record they set back in 2004.
The women's competition team also won silver in the overall women's country division. "We tied with Russia for first overall country and then we had a jump off and Russia took first overall," said team member Sergeant 1st Class Karen Morrison. The overall country award combined scores from 4-way and accuracy.
The men's 4-way team endured some strong competition as they went face to face against Belgium with both teams setting new military world records during several rounds. The Army parachutists won silver in formation skydiving, which was a very tight competition. In the end, Belgium bested them by one point.
CISM is the military equivalent of the Olympics with more than 100 countries representing foreign militaries across the world and more than 6,000 athletes competing. In parachuting alone, there were 40 foreign militaries represented. All participants are active-duty military.
In skydiving competition, teams have 35 seconds working time with each jump to perform and gain the most points to win a medal.