posted Nov 17th, 2016 - The race for the world's top spot in 4-way Women between the Golden Knights and the French national 4-way team has kept the Sun Path Products NSL News busy for many years. It began in 2011 when the Golden Knights entered this event for the first time at the FAI World Cup in Saarlouis, Germany, and finished in 4th place.

The story eventually ended with FAI gold medals for the U.S. team at the FAI Mondial 2016, after silver medals behind France in 2012 and 2014. Ironically, it was the first world meet where the Golden Knights did not compete with the original lineup of 2011 that brought the happy ending.

The French national team in 4-way Women has been used to frequent personnel changes. Aerokart Deep Blue won the first set of gold medals in this event for France in Menzelinsk 2010. The Deep Blue Defenders, with two returning members (Sophie Deremaux-Boulogne, Amelie Tirman) won more gold for France in 2012, together with Stephanie Texier. Sophie Deremaux-Boulogne had stepped in for injured Laurence Herve.

FAI World Cup 2011			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
R.	4-way Women		C,22,19	E,M,1,2	12,9,16	O,8,10	Q,14,5	P,17,K,18	21,L,J,13	3,11,B	20,G,H,4	N,F,A,7	Total	Avg
1	Deep Blue Defenders	FR	16	20	16	17	19	20	19	17	17	28	189	18.9
2	Illusions	RU	12	21	17	14	16	16	19	18	15	19	167	16.7
3	Polaris	NO	13	19	13	15	15	17	17	13	16	23	161	16.1
4	Golden Knights	US	13	16	14	15	14	14	13	15	15	24	153	15.3
5	Bodyflight Aerodyne	UK	13	18	12	14	12	16	12	14	14	23	148	14.8

The two new members of the 2011 - 2012 cycle (Laurence Herve, Perrine Sanchez) then continued with two other new French Girls (Sophia Pecout, Christine Malnis) for the next two years and defended the gold medals once again successfully in Prostejov 2014.

Laurence Herve then switched to the Open Class team, and Perrine Sanchez stepped back into the alternate position. Sophia Pecout and Christine Malnis committed to the next two years with two new members: Clementine Le Bohec and Anais Maillet.

This lineup lasted only for one year before Pamela Lissajoux replaced Anais Maillet after the FAI World Cup 2015. The new lineup had only one year to prepare for the next world meet, and the Golden Knights won for the first time at the World Air Games 2015, then followed up with the gold medals at the FAI Mondial 2016.

FAI Mondial 2016			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
R.	4-way Women		12,A,16	18,15,0	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	17	13	175	17.5
4	Parachute Montreal Fuzion	CA	18	15	19	16	14	16	17	25	17	14	171	17.1
5	Les Stunts	BE	15	14	20	16	11	13	16	24	15	13	157	15.7
6	Bellatrix	AU	13	12	20	16	12	13	15	22	13	14	150	15.0
7	Skymix	DE	13	11	15	15	12	13	14	23	12	12	140	14.0
8	No Mercy	PL	14	14	19	13	9	11	12	19	14	11	136	13.6
9	Infra Red Band	RU	15	12	16	13	9	11	13	17	14	10	130	13.0
10	CZ Ladies	CZ	11	11	14	13	9	10	12	19	9	10	118	11.8
11	Valkyria	DK	10	8	16	10	9	10	11	17	12	10	113	11.3

The French Girls have had some bad luck with untimely injuries. The French team was fortunate to have alternate Sophie Deremaux-Boulogne available when Laurence Herve broke her ankle a few months before the world meet in Dubai and still won the gold medals.

2014 world champion Sophia Pecout has been dealing with a compromised shoulder for a while, which escalated at a very bad time. The Sun Path Products NSL News reported on September 15th how her shoulder dislocated in the middle of the last round, exactly after the 14th scoring point, and she had to deal with the critical situation. It was a very unfortunate ending for the last showdown between the world's two top teams in 4-way Women.

Sophia Pecout did not give herself much rest after the Mondial. Her team was planning to compete at the FAI Indoor World Cup 2016, as well, and she had four weeks to get ready for the next FAI event.

FAI Indoor World Cup 2016			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	T.	Avg
R.	4-way Women		15,11,6	7,2,A	J,B,18,5	E,19,Q,3	8,P,21	12,L,O,C	G,20,F,16	10,D,22	N,9,K,4	14,M,17	T.	Avg
1	French Girls Weembi	FR	21	29	31	30	26	28	26	23	34	31	279	27.9
2	Volition	UK	22	25	27	27	22	23	21	20	31	24	242	24.2
3	NFTO	UK	20	26	26	26	20	23	22	19	24	21	227	22.7
4	No Mercy	PL	18	22	22	21	14	21	23	17	26	21	205	20.5
5	Flyspot Chicks	PL	17	20	17	20	19	18	20	14	22	18	185	18.5
6	Team X	SE	15	21	12	22	17	16	18	15	21	17	174	17.4
7	CZ Ladies	CZ	12	18	11	17	15	16	12	13	20	16	150	15.0
8	Vesce	SI	13	17	14	16	14	13	14	10	17	14	142	14.2
9	Not Your March	HU	11	15	11	12	11	13	11	9	15	13	121	12.1

National coach Mathieu Bernier was not happy to hear that she wanted to go through the next 10-round competition with her injured shoulder. However, he gave his green light when she said that proper taping of the shoulder for support would allow her to compete.

Mathieu Bernier still advised the French Girls to be careful and possibly slow down the pace somehow. That did not seem to work out too well. The team was back on top speed and top performance level at Flyspot, as the Sun Path Products NSL News reported on October 19th. Mathieu Bernier said jokingly that his team does not seem to listen so well to him...

He said that Sophia Pecout went into surgery a week after the FAI Indoor World Cup to get a new shoulder. She now and finally has a 3-month break before the French Girls will resume training. Then the 2016 lineup will go into the team's second year with the same lineup and probably post the first scores at the French Indoor Nationals 2017 in March.