posted Jun 22nd, 2023 - The first preview of the FAI Outdoor World Cup 2023 with the NSL Power Rankings in 4-way Open was showing a leaderboard with the first eight teams that were confirmed for the NSL News at the beginning of the month. It was mainly related to the world's Top 4 teams who will get together for their next showdown, this time in Voss, Norway.

Nothing has changed and will change until they start the outdoor world cup with Round 1 and allow a new evaluation of the current situation after Round 10 at the end of August. However, the field of teams in all events has grown in the meantime, and the number of participating 4-way Open Class teams will eventually be higher compared to the FAI Outdoor World Championship 2022.

The U.S. delegation plays a big role in this impressive field of teams. The NSL News explained in the preview on June 1st that this year's U.S. delegation in Norway is breaking all previous records, as all three national teams in the horizontal Formation Skydiving events (4-way Open, 4-way Women, 8-way Open) had the event on their 2023 agenda.

The NSL News also knew that SDC Rhythm XP, Prison 9 and SNE Fly Girls added one more U.S. team in each event to the delegation. This was still not enough, as Skydive Midwest NEXT, Lightspeed XP and 8-way team Bra Nok XP are getting ready to travel to Norway, as well.

FAI Outdoor World Cup 2023			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Total	Avg
Rank	NSL Power Rankings 4-way Open		TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2	France 4-way Open	FR	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
3	NMP PCH HayaBusa	BE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4	Qatar Tigers	QA	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	Papea	ES	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	Echochamber Oceanside	SE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	SDC Rhythm XP	US	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	Skydive Midwest NEXT	US	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
9	Airbus Illertissen Oceanside	DE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
9	Agera	NO	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
9	Out Of The Blue	NL	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
12	Lightspeed XP	US	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
12	Qatar Cheetahs	QA	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
12	Qatar Lions	QA	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
15	Sequenz	DK	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
15	Whitefish	AU	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
17	Deep n Filthy	UK	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
17	4Reigners	UK	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

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Yellow: National 4-way Open Class teams

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The updated NSL Power Rankings are showing a 4-way Open Class field with currently 18 confirmed teams, including ten of the world's national teams. All ten national 4-way Open Class teams on the leaderboard of the new NSL Power Rankings competed for their countries at the FAI Outdoor World Championship in Eloy last year.

The preview of the upcoming re-matches between the same ten teams did not change very much on the current NSL Power Rankings leaderboard, compared to the previews of the outdoor world championship in October last year and the results of the event. However, exciting new battles between the same teams can be expected, and the mix of national teams with additional international teams creates new battles across the leaderboard.

The NSL News mentioned in the first preview of the event on May 23rd that European teams would have the opportunity to win a medal, as the continent's official outdoor championship is embedded in the outdoor world cup. The Russian national 4-way Open Class team Black Cat won the European bronze medals when this event took place last time in Saarlouis 2017. Russian teams are still banned from participation at FAI/ISC events, and the strong additional U.S. 4-way teams cannot win European championship medals. NMP PCH HayaBusa and France are secure in their European top spots, while the bronze medal position is still open.

FAI Outdoor World Meet 2022			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		20,16,B		P,D,21,13		17,K,11		E,A,19,22		2,9,M		C,14,F,12		3,6,18		4,10,1		8,Q,O,H		5,7,J		Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	21	-1	28		27		27		31		23		21		20		32		31		261	26.1
2	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	BE	20	-1	25	-2	21		23		28		20	-2	19		17		29		26		228	22.8
3	Qatar Tigers	QA	19	-2	23	-1	22	-1	21	-1	26		18		17	-1	17		28		28		219	21.9
4	France 4-way Open	FR	19		23	-1	22		23		27		20	-1	18		15	-1	20	-5	27	-1	214	21.4
5	Chimera	UK	16		21	-2	19		19	-1	18	-5	18	-1	16		14	-1	23	-1	24		188	18.8
6	Papea Masculino	ES	17	-1	20	-1	18	-1	21		21	-2	18		15		15		21	-1	20	-3	186	18.6
7	Echochamber Oceanside	SE	14	-1	21		19		19		20	-1	17		16		15		24	-1	20	-1	185	18.5
8	Airbus Oceanside Illertissen	DE	16		18	-2	19		16	-1	20	-1	13	-3	15		14		19	-2	22	-1	172	17.2
9	Agera FS 2022	NO	16		16	-2	17	-1	17		18	-1	15		15		13	-1	18	-3	21		166	16.6
9	4Astrophe	CA	15	-1	20		19		15	-2	21		15		15	-2	14		16	-3	16	-2	166	16.6
11	Out of the Blue	NL	16		16	-3	17		17		14	-2	17		12	-1	13	-1	21	-1	18		161	16.1
12	Ripper	AU	14	-1	16	-1	18		16	-1	21		15		12		10	-3	19	-1	19	-1	160	16.0
13	Sky4Four	PL	13	-1	14	-3	14		16		16	-2	12	-1	12		13		21		18	-1	149	14.9
14	HF Flying Circus	CZ	13		10	-7	16		15	-1	18	-2	12	-1	13		11	-3	16	-5	17	-1	141	14.1
15	Sequenz	DK	10	-2	16		15		14	-1	17	-1	12	-1	12		11	-1	17	-1	11	-3	135	13.5
16	INIT-Y	BR	12	-2	14	-1	14	-1	13	-4	16		11	-2	10	-3	12		17	-1	15	-3	134	13.4
17	HSV Red Bull Aerodynamix	AT	10	-2	16		14		15		15	-1	8	-3	9	-2	10	-1	15	-1	13	-1	125	12.5
18	Adventure Flyers	PY	9	-1	13		12	-1	11		16		11		10		9		14		14	-1	119	11.9
19	Equinox	LT	10	-1	12	-2	12		12	-1	13	-1	10		10		9	-1	12	-4	14	-1	114	11.4
20	Tina & The Dinosaurs	NZ	5		8	-1	4		9		9	-1	8		5		4	-2	10		8		70	7.0
21	La Playa	GT	2	-1	7	-2	5	-1	3	-3	7		5		3	-1	5		-		-		37	4.6

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Yellow: National 4-way Open Class teams in Eloy

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Papea - Echochamber at the FAI Outdoor World Championship 2022

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Great Britain (Chimera), Spain (Papea), Sweden (Echochamber) and Germany (Airbus) were considered the top contenders for the 5th place behind the same Top 4 in the run-up to the outdoor world championship last year. They would have been in contention for the European bronze medals in August, as well.

However, Chimera have not made new plans, as the NSL News reported on January 24th, and the outcome of the FAI Outdoor World Championship 2022 has also changed the situation. It seems as if only Papea and Echochamber will have the best chances to win the open set of FAI medals in Voss, Norway. They are expected to battle with SDC Rhythm XP and Skydive Midwest NEXT for the meaningful 5th place, who cannot win any FAI medals at this event, unless they outscore two of the world's Top 4 teams.

Two other teams will have a word about the European bronze medals though. Airbus Illertissen Oceanside were not satisfied with their finish in Eloy last year and have the potential to keep up with Papea and Echochamber. Norway's home team, Agera, were one of the most improved teams at the outdoor world championship and will be as eager as Airbus to show their best and compete for the European bronze medals.

The potential duel between Papea and Echochamber could easily turn into a 4-team battle, and Out Of The Blue could be a part of this internal European competition, as well. One way or another, one of the same mentioned teams will not make the Top 10 on the world cup leaderboard, whether European or not. The Dutch team finished 11th in Eloy and will aim once again at a Top 10 position.