posted Jan 4th, 2022 - The Formation Skydiving Sweep at FAI World Championships by one single nation has been a topic for the NSL News for many years. However, there is actually an official FAI trophy that covers more than only the William H. Ottley Sword for 4-way and 8-way Formation Skydiving competition, also known as the respective "Excalibur", and the more recently added trophies for the winners in 4-way Women (Exi Epee Trophy) and 4-way VFS (Fiona McEachern Trophy).

The Patrick De Gayardon Trophy relates to the French skydiver "who pushed the boundaries of performance and helped the sport evolve". It has been given to the "overall winning nation at a Mondial and will be kept in the possession of that nation until the next Mondial" since 2003.

The overall winning nation at the FAI Mondial is defined by the highest total number of points that are given for each medal won by competitors for their countries' delegations. Gold medals win six, silver four, bronze two points for the delegation's trophy account.

All skydiving disciplines at the FAI Mondial are included, with the exception of medals won for overall results in Style and Accuracy and Canopy Piloting, and for team results in Accuracy.

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History of gold medal winners at FAI World Championships of Formation Skydiving

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The NSL News engages obviously only in Formation Skydiving competition and has not been keeping track of the Patrick De Gayardon Trophy and the winning nations, even though Patrick De Gayardon was also training and competing in 4-way and 8-way both.

There is no official award for the countries who have achieved the Formation Skydiving Sweep, which was the combination of gold medals in 4-way and 8-way between 1985 and 1999, followed by 4-way Open, 4-way Women and 8-way between 2001 and 2008, and finally the inclusion of 4-way VFS between 2010 and 2020 for the completion of all current Formation Skydiving events.

Only the U.S. delegation completed the FS Sweep three times when 4-way and 8-way were the only two Formation Skydiving events at world meets. It was once again the U.S. delegation with the only FS Sweep after 4-way Women was added to the event list (2004). France had her time at the first world meet that included 4-way VFS in Menzelinsk 2010. No other country has completed the FS Sweep ever since.

The U.S. delegation in Dubai 2012 won both William H. Ottley Swords for 4-way (Arizona Airspeed) and 8-way (Golden Knights) Formation Skydiving competition in Dubai, and came close with three gold medals in Ottawa 2016. However, the Belgian NMP PCH HayaBusa 4-way world champions have blocked any FS Sweep since 2014.

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Three out of four: Golden Knights in 8-way and 4-way Women - SDC Core at the FAI Mondial 2016

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The situation could change this year when Skydive Arizona will give the next U.S. delegation the home advantage in Eloy, and the reigning 8-way and 4-way VFS world champions after the FAI Tanay Mondial 2020 will provide a very solid foundation for a serious attempt of a new FS Sweep.

The outlook for the U.S. delegation became even better when NMP PCH HayaBusa recently announced a new personnel change, as the NSL News reported on 17 December 2021, including NSL Live Talk with the expected new lineup.

The reigning 4-way world champions are aiming at new gold medals in the near future, while they are looking at next world meet in Eloy just as a step on the way. Arizona Airspeed is more than a year ahead of the new HayaBusa lineup and has probably become the top contender for 4-way Open Class gold medals in Eloy in October.

There seems to be a realistic chance that the U.S. delegation could add a third set of gold medals to this year's collection, and the U.S. team in 4-way Women, XPG4, would have to win their event for the 4th set and the second complete FS Sweep since 2010. The pressure is on...