posted Nov 14th, 2016 - The Sun Path Products NSL News covered the Canadian 4-way gamble between Open Class und VFS medals at the FAI Mondial 2016 with the story on September 15th.

Evolution gave up the bronze medal position in 4-way Open at the previous FAI World Meet in Prostejov 2014 to move up to the 2nd place in VFS at the Mondial. Canada's national team in 4-way Women, Parachute Montreal Fuzion, did not have to evaluate such a complicated situation to make a decision. Fuzion had finished in 4th place in Prostejov and was going after a medal position in the same category two years later.

Fuzion replaced Gabrielle Prevost with Renee Point in the point slot for the new 2-year cycle, and the new lineup started with a new team record average (15.7) at the national championships in 2015. Fuzion was now an average point ahead of the Canadian Prostejov level and only shortly behind the bronze medal position.

FAI World Meet 2014			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
R.	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	Aerodyne 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
4	Para. Montreal Fuzion	CA	17	16	17	15	16	14	11	12	13	16	147	14.7

It looked even more promising when Fuzion competed for Canada at the FAI World Air Games 2015 in Dubai. It was the first confrontation with the new British national team in 4-way Women, NFTO. Kaizen had won the bronze medals for Great Britain in Prostejov and discontinued.

NFTO competed for Great Britain the first time at the World Air Games, and Fuzion took away the bronze medal position with a 17.1 average in Dubai.

Rai Ahmed did not continue with NFTO after the World Air Games, and the British team needed a new member, while Fuzion continued with the same lineup into the Mondial 2016 season. It seemed like Canada was in a great position to turn the 4th place of 2014 at least into bronze medals two years later.

FAI World Air Games 2015			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	T.	Avg
R.	4-way Women		B,C,17,2	N,19,4	13,14,F	6,E,O,L	7,1,A	D,18,P,22	M,H,5,15	16,9,12	21,K,G,Q	11,20,3	T.	Avg
1	Golden Knights	US	25	21	22	25	23	19	29	21	25	17	227	22.7
2	French FLY-IN Girls	FR	25	22	21	30	21	20	20	22	25	18	224	22.4
3	Para. Montreal Fuzion	CA	16	19	16	26	18	12	21	16	14	13	171	17.1
4	NFTO	UK	18	17	15	20	18	15	17	14	19	12	165	16.5

It became even better for Fuzion when both teams met each other for the first time with their 2016 lineups. NFTO had recruited Vana Parker, one of the most experienced female 4-way competitors, who had trained and competed with Voodoo for many years.

However, the Canadian team was far ahead of the new NFTO lineup at the World Challenge 2016. The 31-point advantage after ten rounds made it look almost hopeless for the British team, and the bronze medal position in the world seemed to be securely under Canadian control.

Another British team finished ahead of Fuzion in Bedford, however, Volition would not be the national team at the Mondial, where NFTO had qualified to represent Great Britain. Volition would only compete at the FAI Indoor World Cup 2016.

World Challenge 2016			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	T.	Av.
R.	4-way Women		P,2,10	8,F,15	G,14,17	L,H,E,13	M,7,O,1	16,21,11	N,D,4,9	18,20,A	Q,19,3	C,K,B,22	T.	Av.
1	Volition	UK	19	18	21	29	29	19	29	21	21	26	232	23.2
2	Para. Montreal Fuzion	CA	21	24	22	26	26	21	23	19	21	27	230	23.0
3	NFTO	UK	19	20	18	22	26	14	25	15	20	20	199	19.9
4	Les Stunts	BE	18	20	15	23	23	15	21	16	19	19	189	18.9
5	Valkyria	DK	15	15	13	18	20	13	17	12	15	17	155	15.5

Things turned out differently at the FAI Mondial 2016, and it was not a happy ending for the Canadian team.

NFTO focused on outdoor training throughout the 2016 season, and the new lineup with three 2014 members (Ane Brentford, Anna Hicks, Maria Russell) and Vana Parker improved the team's 2015 outdoor average by a point to 17.5 at Skydive Chicago. Simon Brentford was filming the team to the bronze medals.

Both teams actually completed the same number of formations within the total working time (177) at the Mondial. NFTO lost only two points in the judging room, while Fuzion had six point deductions. NFTO defended the British bronze medals successfully, while Parachute Montreal Fuzion will have to try again...

FAI Mondial 2016			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
R.	4-way Women		12,A,16	18,15,O	1,F,E,C	17,B,14	10,2,20	21,11,G	J,5,19	L,M,K,7	D,8,4	3,13,Q	Total	Avg
1	Golden Knights	US	21	21	30	20	17	19	24	35	20	17	224	22.4
2	French Girls	FR	21	18	30	23	17	18	24	34	18	14	217	21.7
3	NFTO	UK	17	15	21	19	13	16	18	26(-1)	17	13(-1)	175	17.5
4	Para. Montreal Fuzion	CA	18	15(-1)	19(-1)	16(-2)	14	16	17(-2)	25	17	14	171	17.1