posted Jan 6th, 2024 - Last and not least in the NSL News evaluation of the horizontal Formation Skydiving events is the 4-way Women competition, which has been a part of outdoor world championships since 2001. The introduction of the new event did not separate male and female competitors as the military CISM world championship rules do. It only added the category to the FAI/ISC event format, while Formation Skydiving competition also continued with mixed lineups at the same time.

The national teams in the 4-way and 8-way Open Class events still have the option to recruit their members without any restrictions, as they have done since 1985 and longer. The national teams of the four currently leading countries in 4-way Open consist exclusively of male competitors (Arizona Airspeed, NMP PCH HayaBusa, Qatar Tigers, France).

NMP PCH HayaBusa and Qatar Tigers are required to have male lineups only, as they also compete at the military CISM world championships, where the genders are separated in two different categories. GKXP8, the world's currently leading 8-way team, has a female team member, Jeana Billings, who also trains and competes with XPG4 in 4-way Women. She and her XPG4 team mate Michelle Karamon won 8-way gold medals together in Tanay 2021 and Eloy 2022. The U.S. delegation in horizontal Formation Skydiving competition completes the flawless participation since 1985 with teams at each FAI 4-way Women world championship since 2001. U.S. teams in all three events have never missed a world championship, which is unique in the sport.

Participation of all 4-way Women national teams since 2001

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The success rate of U.S. teams in 4-way Women is not as impressive though as it has been in 4-way Open and 8-way Open. The U.S. national teams in the two traditional events have not only attended all world championships since 1985. They have also won medals for the U.S. delegation at each event in their respective categories.

U.S. team Synchronicity had the perfect start for the U.S. delegation when the event was launched in Ampuriabrava 2001. That's the event where Eliana Rodriguez won her first FAI gold medal. She added 8-way Open gold with Arizona Airspeed in Rijeka 2004 and 4-way Open gold with Airspeed Odyssey in Maubeuge 2008.

Eliana Rodriguez is still the only Formation Skydiving competitor in history who has won FAI gold medals at world championships in each of the three horizontal Formation Skydiving events. Male competitors cannot copy this unique accomplishment, as they have only two categories (4-way Open, 8-way Open) available for them.

Only Jeana Billings could currently become the second female competitor with the same gold medal collection. She would have to add a world championship title in 4-way Open if XPG4 win the 4-way Women title at the 26th FAI World Formation Skydiving Championships 2024. Former Golden Knights member Jennifer Davidson is still ahead of Jeana Billings, after winning 4-way Women gold in Ottawa 2016 and 8-way gold in Australia 2018.

4-way Women medal winners at world championships since 2001

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The list of medal-winning nations in 4-way Women is as colorful as in 4-way Open. Only six nations have won all 8-way medals since 2001, the year when 4-way Women competition was added to the world championship format. Eight nations collected all medals in 4-way Open and 4-way Women in the same time period. France and Great Britain lead the 4-way Women medal count with four 1st places each. The U.S delegation will catch up if XPG4 win in October this year.

The 4-way Open Class has only three gold medal winners since 1985: United States, France, Belgium. The situation is the same in 8-way Open, with world champion teams from United States, France and Russia. Only the 4-way Women event has a 4th country with a world championship title since 2001. Russia's Bubbles joined the 4-way Women world champion teams from United States, Great Britain and France in Tanay 2021.

The previous updates with an evaluation of the world championship history pointed out that 4-way Open Class competition was recovering after the impact of the corona virus crisis, while 8-way participation has not. It is not looking much better in 4-way Women yet, where participation has actually declined consistently since Dubai 2012. The four 4-way Women national teams in Eloy 2022 matched the record-low participation in Tanay 2021. This year will hopefully bring the recovery for 8-way Open and 4-way Women both, while 4-way Open participation could continue the upswing in North Carolina.

4-way Women participation at outdoor world championships since 2001

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