posted Nov 10th, 2014 - The Formation Skydiving competition world has a new order. That's how the previous Turning Points column began. However, the main topic was not the athletic part of this year's World Championships. That's coming now, and then I will shut up with the world meet thoughts fora little while.

The preview of the world meet in Prostejov in the August edition of Blue Skies Mag was headlined "4-Way History in Jeopardy." Well, that's actually an oxymoron. History can never be in jeopardy, as it already happened and has become a fact. However, fact is now the historic world order in 4-way competition has changed — at least for two years.

TURNING POINTS - New FS World Order

History since 1985 meant that the U.S. and France would win their medals in 4-way and 8-way at each world meet — gold, silver, bronze, whatever. That's over now, as France went home empty-handed for the first time. Belgium (NMP-PCH Hayabusa) and Canada (Evolution) have changed the power rankings for the first time in modern history of Formation Skydiving competition.

The bigger picture has changed, too, and not only in the 4-way open class. The world order in 8-way competition has also taken a different turn in the past years. The U.S. dominated this event between 1985 and 1999 and won all the gold medals (Coors 1985, Golden Knights 1987 - 1997, Arizona Airspeed 1999) in this time period.

Russia stopped the U.S. 8-way dominance in 2001 and 2003 before Airspeed won the title one more time in 2004. Then France took over, won the gold medals three consecutive times (2006, 2008 and 2010) and seemed to be unstoppable before the U.S. Army decided to invest again in a new 8-way project.

The Golden Knights, with project leader and team captain Brian "BK" Krause, took back the 8-way Excalibur sword in 2012 but now don't even have any competition. It is very likely that a new decade of U.S. 8-way dominance has begun. France has problems with funding the national team, while the Golden Knights are full-time competitors. Russia has no consistency and leadership, as the world champions of 2001 and 2003 had with Alexander Beloglazov. I am afraid that we have to be prepared for little 8-way excitement in the coming years...

Fortunately, that will not be the same in the 4-way open class, where the world order has only changed for now. There is no guarantee at all that the situation will be the same in two years. Any of the top five nations (Belgium, the U.S., Canada, France, Russia) have teams and competitors with the potential to get to the very top in a 2-year period. They just need enough training to make it happen. The outcome at the next world meet on U.S. soil in 2016 is wide open at this time.

The situation in the 4-way women's class has been similar to the two traditional FS events, where the countries had their times and turns of dominance. Only teams from the U.S. and the U.K. won gold medals at the first five world meets (2001 - 2008), while three other countries (France, Norway, Sweden) took the other remaining medals.

France had enough of that in 2010 when Deep Blue won their first gold medals, and different lineups defended them successfully in 2012 and 2014. However, the U.S. is the only country in 4-way women's class that has won a set of medals at each world meet since 2001.

It seems as if France is on a roll in 4-way Women, but this could change quickly. The Golden Knights have confirmed a new 2-year cycle with the same lineup, and they will become more dangerous for any French lineup than ever before. French coach Marin Ferre will have his hands full.

The other French gold medals in VFS 4-way are in jeopardy, too. No other country has yet won a gold medal in this youngest FS event. However, coach and French VFS godfather Philippe "Le Professeur" Schorno, does not have Team4speed any longer to win the gold medals for him and France. The team retired after winning the third gold medal in Prostejov. It will be a tough deal for France in 2016.

By the way, and more for the history books: This year's world meet was also unique in a different way, and I like it a lot. It was the first time since the inclusion of VFS 4-way in the World Championship of Formation Skydiving that teams from three different countries won the four sets of gold medals.

France and the U.S. won all gold medals in 4-way and 8-way between 1985 and 1999. This gold medal dominance of the two FS powerhouses ended when 4-way women's class was added to the world meets. Four countries (the U.S., France, Russia and the U.K.) shared the three sets of gold medals between 2001 and 2008.

VFS 4-way was added to world meets in 2010, and only the U.S. and France won any FS gold medals at the two world meets in Russia and Dubai. This gold-medal dominance was over in Prostejov. France (4-way women's, VFS 4-way) and the U.S. (8-way) had to allow Belgium (4-way open) to join the gold medal club. Belgium is only the fifth country since 1985 that has won a gold medal in any formation-skydiving competition event. Come on, Evolution...