ELOY, Ariz. — Some of the best skydivers in the country and the world have descended on Eloy for the United States Parachute Association's National Championship, where hundreds of athletes are free-falling for gold at Skydive Arizona.

From 13,500 feet above the Arizona desert, world-class competition unfolds with dozens of formations, perfect precision and only seconds to execute each maneuver.

"We'll have about 500 or 600 of the nation's best skydivers coming to compete in various disciplines, and we'll pick our national champions in each one," said Albert Berchtold, USPA executive director.

Teams like Arizona-based Fliteshop are among the top of the sport, competing in mixed formation skydiving on Thursday.

"We fly on our belly, we fly on our back, we fly on our feet and we fly on ou

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