posted Sep 9th, 2024 - The NSL News is now turning back to international events, after comprehensive live coverage of and from the German Outdoor Nationals, which was published mostly on the website of the German Skydiving Federation (DFV).

The event at GoJump in Gransee near Berlin had direct international impact on all three traditional Formation Skydiving competition events at the FAI Outdoor World Championships 2024. Airbus Illertissen, Germany's national team in 4-way Open, confirmed their path to the unofficial amateur world championship title with a strong performance, and they are now expected to be the top contender for the 5th place.

However, the same battle for the 5th place has just become even more challenging, as the British Outdoor Nationals were showing national team Apex in great shape more than a month before the outdoor world championship. Apex finished only in 2nd place behind the SOAR dark horse, while moving up the NSL Power Rankings with the 18.0 average. Apex is now in position to become the potential defender of the British 5th place of Eloy 2022, where Chimera became the strongest unofficial amateur team. Two Chimera members competed with SOAR and will still not be able to defend the 5th place by themselves. Five teams now have realistic potential to finish behind the same four medal contenders.

FAI Outdoor World Championship 2024			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open Power Rankings		TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2	Aethers	FR	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
3	Qatar Tigers	QA	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
3	NMP PCH HayaBusa	BE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	Airbus Illertissen Oceanside	DE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	Agera	NO	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	Apex	UK	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	Echochamber	SE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	Papea	ES	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
10	Out Of The Blue	NL	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
10	Netunos	BR	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
12	Havoc	AU	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

NMP PCH HayaBusa's new lineup with Ray Lodens in the point slot attended their first outdoor competition and have a 20.7 starting point. This puts the Qatar Tigers in a stronger position to win back the FAI bronze medals in 4-way Open that they won in Eloy 2022 and then lost to the previous HayaBusa lineup in Norway 2023.

The NSL Power Rankings are still showing the Belgians in contention for the 3rd place, as the last meet average of the Qatar Tigers in Norway (21.5) could be in reach for the new HayaBusa lineup. There could be a battle for the bronze medals, even though the Tigers have the upper hand by the numbers.

There is another change on the NSL Power Rankings leaderboard in 4-way Open, which is actually only the removal of a team, China in 4-way Open. The first list of registered teams was showing a team from China in 4-way Open and no participation in 4-way Women. This was apparently a mistake, as the 4-way Open Class team was removed and a new one was added in 4-way Women. This correction did not only reduce the attendance in 4-way Open. It could also have a large impact on the 4-way Women competition.

FAI Outdoor World Championship 2024			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Women Power Rankings		TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	Total	Avg
1	China	CN	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1	XPG4	US	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
3	Nephtys	FR	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4	Meltemi Oceanside Illertissen	DE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	NFTO	UK	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
6	Thyra	NO	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

The NSL News reported on April 26th how the Chinese 4-way Women team at the FAI Indoor World Cup 2024 were shocking the 4-way competition world with their 30.5 indoor average that only Arizona Airspeed and French Aethers could handle.

There is no confirmation that the team at Crystal Coast is identical with the one that won the 4-way Women indoor competition, while coach Solly Williams said that the same team is also training and competing outdoors. There is also no indication of the Chinese outdoor performance and scoring level. However, a similar surprise as in April this | year could shake up the 4-way Women leaderboard.

XPG4 seem to have no serious opposition so far for the 1st place at the world championship, and a strong 4-way Women lineup from China could possibly change that. United States, France and China could take the medal positions, and former other medal winners, including Germany's Meltemi Oceanside Illertissen, could leave empty-handed, despite a significantly increased performance level. Only the 8-way preview is unchanged. Operation Adler won over Airbus 8-way in Germany and will compete in North Carolina to defend the German bronze medals successfully. The Qatar Falcons are still out of reach for Operation Adler, and XP8 compete in a league of their own.

FAI Outdoor World Championship 2024			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open Power Rankings		TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	Total	Avg
1	GKXP8	US	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2	Qatar Falcons	QA	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
3	Operation Adler	DE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4	Ap8thy	UK	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4	Netunos	BR	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-