posted Jun 29th, 2016 - The recent news of the Golden Knights roster change in 4-way Women (JaNette Lefkowitz for Angela Navarro Nichols) mentioned that the new situation may also change the dynamics in the race for the gold medals in this event at the Mondial 2016.

The dynamics have surely changed for the SKYLEAGUE.COM audience, as the first results after posting the new poll question are showing.

The Golden Knights had taken the undisputed top position at the end of the 2015 season and were far ahead of the French national team, who are the reigning 4-way world champions in 4-way Women after three consecutive gold medals in 2010, 2012 and 2014.

FAI World Meet 2012			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Women		5,12,E	6,D,B,K	O,8,7	N,13,18	10,21,M	19,H,11	C,G,1,A	20,9,15	16,F,P,Q	2,J,4	Total	Avg
1	Deep Blue Defenders	FR	18	28	19	16	18	19	21	19	30	19	207	20.7
2	Golden Knights	US	19	27	21	15	18	19	21	17	26	18	201	20.1
3	Polaris	NO	15	25	19	14	16	16	21	15	21	16	178	17.8

The reason for the poll results in January 2016 were the three victories of the Golden Knights in 2015 (1st FAI World Indoor Skydiving Championships 2015, Clash of Champions 2015, World Air Games 2015).

It seemed like the consistent training with the same roster since 2011 might eventually be rewarded with the first gold medals at an FAI World Championship of Formation Skydiving at this year's Mondial 2016.

However, the new results after the recent personnel change are completely reversed. In fact, the French Girls are even further ahead in the new poll than the Golden Knights were in January this year, and the gold medals for the U.S.A. in this category seem to be in serious jeopardy.

FAI World Meet 2014			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Women		E,3,C,5	F,6,D,21	19,H,2	M,4,1	O,14,A,P	8,J,16	7,11,12	22,20,15	17,G,18	13,B,9	Total	Avg
1	French Girls	FR	21	25	22	20	27	21	18	17	19	24	214	21.4
2	Golden Knights	US	22	25	21	21	23	18	16	15	19	24	204	20.4
3	Kaizen	UK	15	20	16	18	19	14	14	13	15	17	161	16.1

Once again, the current poll results seem to make sense, as the audience apparently values the consistency of a lineup. At this point in time, the French Girls have been training with the same roster since Pamela Lissajoux joined the team after the FAI World Cup in September 2015. The Golden Knights had the first personnel change in team history three months before the final showdown at the Mondial 2016.

The new French Girls team had already caught up with the Golden Knights at the World Air Games 2015 after the two indoor losses last year, and it seemed like the race for the gold medals was wide open again. The recent personnel change has tipped the balance back to the advantage of the French national team.

France and Golden Knights have competed directly against each other 11 times at indoor and outdoor meets since 2011. The last time when the French Girls won was at the FAI World Meet 2014 in Prostejov. The FAI World Meet 2016 in Ottawa could become the next time...