posted Apr 9th, 2012 - The NSL News follows up on the female 4way competition at the World Challenge 2012. The extended leaderboard now shows the point deductions that each team had throughout the competition.

The German team ISB Air Remscheid had the cleanest start into the meet and was without any penalties and with the lead after three rounds. Round 4 brought the first penalty for the Germans, and they had to give up the top position to Just4Fun at the same time. ISB Air Remscheid did not have any penalties from then on but also never went back to the top spot.

The UK pickup team of former world champions took the lead from the Germans in Round 4 and maintained it for the remainder of the competition. The NSL News explained with the first review story of the event that the controversial re-flying session of Round 7 had an impact on the final leaderboard. Just4Fun member Claire “Sparky” Scott provided the NSL News with additional insights from the team's perspective.

World Challenge 2012		Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class - Women	D,Q,9,10	17,P,11	2,21,7	14,J,O,M	A,L,18,16	N,H,20,G	C,E,19,22	1,8,4	K,6,3	12,F,5	Total	Avg
1	Just4Fun	25(-1)	22	20	31	23	27	24	18	23	21	234	23.4
2	Aerodyne D.Blue Defenders	26	22(-2)	18(-1)	31	21	27	24	18	21	24	232	23.2
3	ISB Air Remscheid	25	23	20	29(-1)	21	26	23	16	23	21	227	22.7
4	Perris Wicked	25	20(-1)	17(-1)	30(-1)	19	25	21	16	19(-1)	20	212	21.2
5	Polaris	21	19	18	26	18	23	21	17	18(-1)	18	199	19.9
6	Maubeuge NPC B3	20	17(-1)	15(-1)	26	14(-1)	21(-1)	20(-1)	16	19	19	187	18.7
7	Bodyflight Langar	17(-2)	18	15	26	18	20(-1)	19(-2)	15	18(-1)	16	182	18.2
8	Brit Chicks	21	15(-1)	16(-1)	24	17	21(-2)	17(-1)	15	15	19	180	18.0

"We were also very disappointed with the reactions from one of the delegations during the female 4-way medal ceremony which we thought it to be very unsporting. It took away some of the enjoyment of the occasion.

We understand that we are solely responsible for our equipment before entering the flying chamber. Tarn said she made every effort to tape down and secure her helmet fastening, however it worked free and then she felt the helmet starting to come off. Instinctively she kept flying in order to do the best she could for the team. She made every effort to keep the helmet on her head as, being a tunnel instructor herself she knew that a helmet flying into the fans could have caused serious damage and disruption to the competition, perhaps even stopping the meet, and was also a safety issue. At the time it didn't cross her mind to leave the tunnel as that would have cost us more points than the ones we were already loosing with her hanging on to her helmet, and the possibility that we would get a re-jump also didn't enter her mind. When you are trying to concentrate on the jump, how can you also possibly start to weigh up the pros and cons of whether it's best to carry on or whether you should leave the tunnel. She said she just concentrated on flying the best she could for 35 seconds whilst not being able to see very much after holding the helmet with her hand and eventually grabbing the helmet liner with her teeth! But it was obvious that it had a big impact on the way we flew the round. We asked the judges if it was grounds for a rejump before it was scored and as far as we know it was never scored. The rejump was granted by the judges so we took it.

If another team that was in 1st place contention had the same problem, we would have also wanted them to have the re-jump as winning a meet because of an equipment issue wouldn't have given us the same level of satisfaction. It's a shame that the big focus on this re-jump has overshadowed what was one of the closest competitions in the female category for some time. As our team name suggested we were just doing The Challenge for fun and won't be competing at this year's World Meet, however we are very much looking forward to watching what will be an exciting battle for the medals in Dubai!"

The NSL News discussed the World Challenge 2012 with XL member Pete Allum, one of the most experienced competitors and most respected people in the sport. He explained the competition from the XL perspective and then commented the two issues that occured during the competition.

The first one related to Round 1 of the French national 4way team, Aerodyne Aerokart, and the review and adjustments by the judges. NSL Reality TV added the video that shows the French performance for a better understanding of the situation.

The second issue was the re-flying session for Just4Fun in Round 7 that was covered with yesterday's story. Pete Allum provided his own feedback and recommended for any similar situations in the future that a competitor should better leave the flying chamber if there is a safety concern. He also said that it might be time to take a closer look at the rules for indoor competition.