posted Oct 13th, 2024 - The NSL News reported on April 26th that the performance of China's 4-way Women team had created a question mark behind a potential U.S. Sweep in Formation Skydiving at the 26th FAI World Formation Skydiving Championships. It was the leaderboard in 4-way Woman at the FAI Indoor World Cup 2024 that was shocking to the Formation Skydiving competition world at that time.

China's 4-way Women team had not only won their category, they also finished in 3rd place on the combined AAA Class leaderboard (4-way Open/4-way Women) with a 30.5 average. Only Arizona Airspeed and French Aethers were ahead of them on the combined leaderboard.

Only two of the nine 4-way Women teams at the indoor world cup in China (China, XPG4) had plans for the 4-way Women competition at the 26th FAI World Formation Skydiving Championships, while it was not clear for a while whether China would attend in 4-way Women at Crystal Coast or not.

The question mark behind the outcome of the 4-way Women competition last week grew in size when confirmation came from China that the same lineup who won the indoor world cup would also travel to North Carolina for the outdoor world championship. Especially XPG4 knew what to expect after watching their direct opponent live on site in China. Finally, both teams arrived at the competition site in North Carolina, and there was no doubt any longer that there would be an outdoor showdown between the same two teams.

FAI Indoor World Cup 2024			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		11		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Women Top 3		8,C,7		K,G,12,B		6,4,H		20,1,5		15,10,A		F,O,P,21		19,M,9		J,13,E,22		16,3,N		L,Q,D,18		2,11,17		Total	Avg
1	China	CN	27	-4	33	-1	31		26	-1	21	-3	44		32	-3	29		29		33	-1	-		305	30.5
2	NFTO	UK	26		27	-1	25	-1	25		23		36	-3	32	-1	27		23	-2	32		24	-1	276	27.6
3	XPG4	US	29		28	-2	26		25		24		39		31	-1	25	-1	23	-3	26	-3	23		276	27.6

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China - NFTO - XPG4 at the FAI Indoor World Cup 2024, Video Footage Courtesy of FAI/ISC/InTime

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XPG4 had actually ended up in 3rd place at the indoor competition in China, shortly after new team member Jennifer Davidson joined the team. NFTO won the extra round for the 2nd place after the tie with XPG4 at the end of the ten rounds. China were 29 points ahead of both opponents, the reigning 4-way outdoor world champions of 2022 (NFTO) and the bronze medalists (XPG4) at the same event.

China did not have a 4-way Women team in Eloy 2022. The last scoring records of the NSL News for China in 4-way Women was the 5th place with 25.4 at the FAI Indoor World Championship 2019, followed by a 12.7 outdoor average a month later at the Asiana Championship 2019.

The 30.5 indoor average earlier this year could not be expected by anybody, and the news that the same team would compete at the outdoor world championship stirred up quite some energy in the run-up to the event.

However, XPG4 were not shocked that much, as they simply continued with their preparations. They knew that the new lineup with Jennifer Davidson had the potential to catch up with China's indoor skills and that outdoor competition is a totally different environment. They had already shown a 22.5 average at the USPA National Championship 2024, which was enough to take the 2nd place over Golden Knights and SDC Rhythm XP both. China could eventually outscore XPG4 only in two outdoor rounds, and XPG4 won by 15 points. This finally completed the U.S. Sweep in Formation Skydiving competition and Jeana Billings' double-gold mission.

FAI Outdoor World Championship 2024			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Women Top 3		14,G,13		J,C,17,12		D,A,21,P		18,B,H,F		E,L,O,8		22,2,K		6,7,16		9,20,15		3,M,N,4		5,1,10		Total	Avg
1	XPG4	US	19	-1	22	-1	28		30	-1	28		20		20		18	-1	24		18		227	22.7
2	China	CN	18	-1	17	-4	29		27		28	-1	18		21		16	-1	21		17	-1	212	21.2
3	Nephtys	FR	17		20		27		26	-1	25		18		17	-1	15	-1	17	-2	16		198	19.8

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XPG4 - China - Nephtys at the 26th FAI World Formation Skydiving Championships, Video Footage Courtesy of FAI/ISC/InTime

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