posted Jun 1st, 2005 - The next big 4-way meet is just around the corner. The registration deadline for the 3rd FAI Anton Malevsky Memorial World Cup 2005 has passed, and the field of teams traveling to Russia in July is beyond all expectations.

The leaderboard of last year's World Championship of Formation Skydiving in Croatia is great evidence for the top quality of the teams at the Malevsky Cup 2005. Eight of the top ten nations in Croatia are registered for the meet in Stupino, Russia, on July 4-9, 2005, including USA, France, Russia, Italy, Germany, Norway, Belgium and Spain. Only Switzerland and Denmark will not be represented in Russia. The national teams of Canada, Netherlands, Kazakhstan and Austria competed in Croatia 2004, as well, and they will attend the Malevsky Cup 2005. A new team from Ukraine will have its international debut in Stupino, and this makes for a total of 13 nations in the Open Class.

The total number of teams in the Open Class is still even higher. 24 teams have signed up for this category, which beats last year's number by eight teams. The reason for the higher total number is the fact that each nation can officially send four teams to an IPC World Cup. Additional guest teams have been accepted by the Russian event organizers, as well.

The less restricted participation rules at official world cups have a great result for the actual competition. Countries with several evenly competitive teams will not only be represented by one team. The national competition between top teams can be carried into the world cup event.

The 4-way competition in the USA is a great example for the advantage of the more open world cup field. Each of the four US teams, which are registered for the Malevsky World Cup 2005, DeLand Fire, Airspeed Odyssey, Airspeed Velocity and Team Fastrax, has the potential to become the new US national team this year and then win the World Championship in 2006.

Only one team will be allowed to travel to Germany next year, however, each team can officially win medals at the Malevsky World Cup in July. The participation of a higher number of top teams allows for an even more exciting competition.

Last year, the top contenders in Russia used the Malevsky World Cup as a last test before the World Championship 2004 in Croatia. The results of the Malevsky World Cup 2004 gave great insights of the international 4-way situation before the final showdown in Croatia. In fact, the top five rankings in Russia were identical with the final standings in Croatia: USA - France - Russia - Italy - Germany. The results of the Malevsky World Cup 2005 will surely make a similar statement as in 2004.

The NSL News will introduce and compare the top contenders for the 4-way Open Class competition at the Malevsky World Cup 2005 with more stories to come.

The same event also includes the 4-way Female Class. Five teams competed in Russia at the Malevsky World Cup 2004, seven all-female teams have registered for the 2005 event. Zooey from Finland is the reigning overall champion of the Scandinavian country and brings the number of participating nations to 14.

France and Russia won the silver and bronze medals at the world meet in Croatia 2004 with 16.4 and 15.3 averages. Both teams have continued with the same line-up, and it will be interesting to see the current performance and scoring level. USA is the reigning world champion in this category and won last year's world meet with a 16.9 average. No US team has signed up for the 4-way Female Class in Russia.

The incredible 4-way field is not even enough excitement yet. The Russian event organizers decided to put something on top of it and added the 8-way event for the first time in the Malevsky Cup history. The 8-way field of teams cannot get any better.

Five teams are registered for the 8-way competition at the Malevsky World Cup 2005, and these five teams are exactly the five top teams of the last world meet in Croatia 2004: USA - Russia - France - Germany - Italy. What else could anybody ask for? The NSL News will follow up on the 8-way situation, as well.

This year's event finally includes all the artisitic events, as well: Freefly, Freestyle, Skysurf and Accuracy. The whole field of all participants in all disciplines is posted at the Russian event website.

Last not least, the NSL News will once again be live on site in Russia. The Malevsky World Cup management was pleased with the coverage of last year's event and re-invited the NSL News for the full coverage, including scores, pictures, stories, NSL-TV, interviews and more.

Yes, it is already time to prepare and get excited, the Malevsky Cup 2005 is only less than five weeks away. Stay tuned for updates.