posted Aug 22nd, 2014 - The situation of the current poll results in 4-way Women for the FAI World Championship of Formation Skydiving 2014 is very different compared to the 4-way Open Class. There are question marks and contradictions all around this upcoming competition in Prostejov.

The Golden Knights are the team with the same lineup in the last four years, while the French national team started with two new members in 2013. This should bring the same advantage to the US national team as it does for NMP-PCH Hayabusa in the 4-way Open Class.

However, the French Girls have won 18 of the 30 rounds that they have shared with the Golden Knights this year (Paraclete XP Inddor - Paraclete XP Outdoor - World Challenge). The Golden Knights have won four rounds, and both teams tied the remaining eight rounds.

Paraclete XP Indoor 2014		Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Women	K,13,22	15,3,10	D,B,6,9	G,7,E,18	11,4,L	A,21,1	J,Q,N,12	C,F,8,O	P,17,M,14	2,16,20	Total	Avg
1	French Girls (FR)	22	20	35	26	23	24	26	28	28	20	252	25.2
2	Golden Knights (US)	18	20	30	27	22	24	27	28	25	20	241	24.1

The French Girls won nine of the ten outdoor rounds at the Paraclete XP Outdoor Championship 2014, and the Golden Knights could outscore the French team only by one point per round, with the exception of one 2-point difference, while France created several up to 5-point differences in the winning rounds.

How is it possible that the current results of the polls are still showing both teams neck to neck in the race for the gold medals?

Just like the latest results in the 4-way Open Class polls, the vote of the online audience still makes a lot of sense. The competition in 4-way Women might become the closest race of all four Formation Skydiving events in Prostejov.

Paraclete XP Outdoor 2014		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	18,2,O	TD,19,22	G,C,P,10	9,A,L,H	K,16,B,Q	7,4,21	11,15,F	M,3,E,8	6,1,17	20,12,J	Total	Avg
1	French Girls (FR)	20	19	23	32	25	20	20	21	18	18	216	21.6
2	Golden Knights (US)	18	17	22	24	25	17	18	18	14	15	188	18.8

In fact, the current tie in the polls reflects perfectly the dramatic showdown between USA and France at the World Cup 2013 in Banja Luka, where both teams had to go into a jump-off round, which still did not break the tie.

The race between the new French Girls and the Golden Knights was so close that the FAI Formation Skydiving Committee changed the tie-breaking rules after the extremely exciting battle in Banja Luka. The audience obviously believes that both teams will repeat their showdown this year.

The next question would bring up the current situation and the results of the 2014 season, which should be more realistic than last year's results. The French Girls dominated at all the meets this year. How could the Golden Knights still be so close?

World Cup 2013		Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Rd. 11	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Women	O,4,H,3	9,17,P	L,1,G,12	7,10,21	16,E,A,15	8,2,B	18,5,Q	F,14,K,N	M,C,D,13	20,J,19	22,11,6	Total	Avg
1	Golden Knights	22	25	17	17	19	18	21	20	24	20	17	220	20.0
1	Aerodyne French Girls	21	27	16	18	20	17	17	23	24	20	17	220	20.0

The answer to this question comes with the schedule of both teams.

The Golden Knights came to the Paraclete XP Indoor and Outdoor double header literally without any training, while the French Girls started earlier with a training camp in Arizona.

Golden Knights coach Solly Wiliams said that it was not really a surprise for him that the French Girls would win both events.

He still wanted the US Army team to face off with the French team to get the additional competition experience.

The results of both Paraclete XP meets did not tell too much about the situation of the Golden Knights closer to the world meet.

World Challenge 2014		Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Women	17,18,19	5,16,6	4,N,13	P,F,12,M	J,D,10,K	G,3,O,C	H,22,14	20,2,8	1,21,11	15,7,L	Total	Avg
1	French Girls (FR)	23	25	19	32	29	29	22	19	21	28	247	24.7
2	Golden Knights (US)	21	21	21	31	28	28	22	20	21	28	241	24.1

It was already slightly different at the World Challenge 2014 after the Golden Knights had launched their training for the year. The French Girls won again, but only by six points. An even closer look at the scores shows that the Golden Knights did not give up any of the last four rounds and outscored the French Girls by a point.

Round 10 at the World Challenge in April was the last time that both teams competed directly with each other. The results of the second half of the meet in Bedford and the memories of the World Cup 2013 in Banja Luka might have caused the vote in 4-way Women. It could be another horse race in Prostejov.

The French Girls added two more competition rounds at the Coupe de France meet in July. Other than that, both teams have been in training for the world meet. The Sun Path Products NSL News will be ready to report the next 4-way Women battle from Prostejov...