posted Oct 18th, 2024 - The combined AAA Class leaderboard has been a consistent part of the NSL News aftermath whenever there is a separate leaderboard for the 4-way Women event. Teams in 4-way Open and 4-way Women use exactly the same competition draw, and the competitors themselves are usually peaking at the other leaderboard, too.

The NSL News coverage of the 26th FAI World Formation Skydiving Championships at Crystal Coast featured the combined AAA Class leaderboard during the event and in the aftermath both, last time with the update on October 14th, after the conclusion of all events.

In the past years, the NSL News aftermath of world championships and world cups has also included an evaluation of the 4-way participation that relates to the same two different leaderboards, which are used only for the two horizontal 4-way events. Neither 8-way nor 4-way VFS have the additional option for the different genders.

The participation of female and male 4-way competitors at the same event has barely changed between the two last world championship in Eloy 2022 and Crystal Coast 2024. 65% of the participants in Eloy 2022 were male 4-way competitors, 35% female (65 - 35). The evaluation has disregarded the team videographers, who have the option to film teams in either event. The numbers changed to 66% - 34% at Crystal Coast (45 - 23).

FAI Outdoor World Championship 2024			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way AAA		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	Arizona Airspeed	US	24		27	-1	33		36		31		23		26		26		25		22	-1	273	27.3
2	Aethers	FR	22		23	-4	33		32	-1	29		23		22		21		25		22		252	25.2
3	Qatar Tigers	QA	21		20	-3	26	-2	32		29	-1	20		21		20		19	-2	20		228	22.8
4	XPG4	US	19	-1	22	-1	28		30	-1	28		20		20		18	-1	24		18		227	22.7
5	NMP PCH HayaBusa	BE	19		21	-2	25		25		25	-1	20		19		17		21	-1	20		212	21.2
5	China	CN	18	-1	17	-4	29		27		28	-1	18		21		16	-1	21		17	-1	212	21.2
7	Nephtys	FR	17		20		27		26	-1	25		18		17	-1	15	-1	17	-2	16		198	19.8
8	Echochamber	SE	17		21	-1	24	-2	26		22	-1	16	-2	20		14	-2	19	-1	17		196	19.6
9	Airbus Illertissen Oceanside	DE	17		19		21	-1	26		23		16		19		15	-1	18	-2	16	-1	190	19.0
10	Agera	NO	14	-1	17	-2	18	-2	26		24		17		17		15		19		17		184	18.4
11	Meltemi Oceanside Illertissen	DE	16		17		21		23		20		16		15	-1	15		19		17		179	17.9
12	Out Of The Blue	NL	13	-1	17		22	-1	22	-1	22	-1	12	-1	19		14		18	-1	16	-1	175	17.5
12	Apex	UK	15		18		21	-2	25		21	-2	13	-2	18		14	-1	15	-2	15		175	17.5
14	Papea	ES	14	-1	15	-2	23		20	-1	23		14	-2	17		16		13	-1	15		170	17.0
15	Havoc	AU	13		13	-2	19	-1	16	-1	18		13		14	-1	12	-2	16		14		148	14.8
16	Netunos	BR	11		15	-1	17	-1	18	-1	19		13		15		10	-1	14	-1	12	-2	144	14.4
17	Thyra	NO	12		14		18		14	-2	11	-5	13		12	-1	12		14		12		132	13.2

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Grey: All Male (9), Magenta: All Female (5), Yellow: Mixed Gender (3) = 53% - 29% - 18%

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Airbus - Agera - Out Of The Blue at the 26th FAI World Formation Skydiving Championships, Video Footage Courtesy of FAI/ISC/InTime

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There was still a significant difference between both events, which is not only the dramatic decrease in 4-way Open Class participation. 21 teams competed in 4-way Open in Eloy 2022, twelve at Crystal Coast 2024. That's a loss of nine national teams or 43% of participation. The decrease is not the same in 8-way Open, 4-way Women and 4-way VFS, where the participation has been as low for several years.

However, the other significant change can be found back in the evaluation of the gender-mix, even though the 2024 proportions between male and female 4-way competitors are almost exactly the same as in Eloy 2022. It is the shift in the number of teams who consisted of female and male competitors in the same lineups of the 4-way Open Class.

The majority of 4-way competitors could be found in 13 mixed-gender teams (52%) in Eloy 2022. Eight all-male lineups competed in 4-way Open, four in 4-way Women. Only three teams (18%) competed with mixed-gender lineups at Crystal Coast, where the nine all-male teams (53%) dominated the 4-way Open Class participation. The three teams all had the same combination of three male and one female members, and they were all in the hunt for the same positions behind the four medal contenders in 4-way Open.

FAI Outdoor World Championship 2022			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way AAA		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	NFTO	UK	18		23		21		21		25		15	-2	17		14	-1	23		23		200	20.0
6	Nephtys	FR	16	-2	20	-1	19		21		23		14		17		14	-1	24		21		189	18.9
7	Chimera	UK	16		21	-2	19		19	-1	18	-5	18	-1	16		14	-1	23	-1	24		188	18.8
8	Papea Masculino	ES	17	-1	20	-1	18	-1	21		21	-2	18		15		15		21	-1	20	-3	186	18.6
9	Echochamber Oceanside	SE	14	-1	21		19		19		20	-1	17		16		15		24	-1	20	-1	185	18.5
10	XPG4	US	17	-1	21	-1	18	-1	20	-1	20	-3	16		15		15		21	-2	21		184	18.4
11	Airbus Oceanside Illertissen	DE	16		18	-2	19		16	-1	20	-1	13	-3	15		14		19	-2	22	-1	172	17.2
12	Agera FS 2022	NO	16		16	-2	17	-1	17		18	-1	15		15		13	-1	18	-3	21		166	16.6
12	4Astrophe	CA	15	-1	20		19		15	-2	21		15		15	-2	14		16	-3	16	-2	166	16.6
14	Out of the Blue	NL	16		16	-3	17		17		14	-2	17		12	-1	13	-1	21	-1	18		161	16.1
15	Ripper	AU	14	-1	16	-1	18		16	-1	21		15		12		10	-3	19	-1	19	-1	160	16.0
16	Meltemi Oceanside	DE	15		17		13		17		20		14		14		9	-2	18		16		153	15.3
17	Sky4Four	PL	13	-1	14	-3	14		16		16	-2	12	-1	12		13		21		18	-1	149	14.9
18	HF Flying Circus	CZ	13		10	-7	16		15	-1	18	-2	12	-1	13		11	-3	16	-5	17	-1	141	14.1
19	Sequenz	DK	10	-2	16		15		14	-1	17	-1	12	-1	12		11	-1	17	-1	11	-3	135	13.5
20	INIT-Y	BR	12	-2	14	-1	14	-1	13	-4	16		11	-2	10	-3	12		17	-1	15	-3	134	13.4
21	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
22	Adventure Flyers	PY	9	-1	13		12	-1	11		16		11		10		9		14		14	-1	119	11.9
23	Equinox	LT	10	-1	12	-2	12		12	-1	13	-1	10		10		9	-1	12	-4	14	-1	114	11.4
24	Tina & The Dinosaurs	NZ	5		8	-1	4		9		9	-1	8		5		4	-2	10		8		70	7.0
25	La Playa	GT	2	-1	7	-2	5	-1	3	-3	7		5		3	-1	5		-		-		37	4.6

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Grey: All Male (8), Magenta: All Female (4), Yellow: Mixed Gender (13) = 32% - 16% - 52%

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Decreasing participation in 4-way Open

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Germany's Airbus 4-way team won this unusual internal competition, with Sarah Mertes in the point slot. Agera's Nadia Jørgenrud had the same slot in the Norwegian front piece. Both female points had their three male team mates behind them in most of the formations. Airbus and Agera both were aiming at the world's unofficial amateur championship title, which was eventually taken by Echochamber's all-male lineup.

Out Of The Blue changed from a 2-2 combination in Eloy 2022 to a 3-1 gender-mix at Crystal Coast. Mechie Voermans has been inside center before and after the changes in the lineup. The last NSL Power Rankings before Round 1 were not expecting the new lineup in the hunt for the 5th place.

The 5th place was eventually still out of reach for OOTB, however, the Dutch team outscored not only Netunos, the expected opponent from Brazil. They also left Papea (Spain) behind in the final 4-way Open Class rankings and shared the 8th place with Apex (Great Britain) and a significantly higher meet average (16.1 - 17.5) compared to the previous lineup in Eloy 2022. The all-male Apex lineup was followed by three other male teams on the bottom of the 4-way Open Class leaderboard, while the Top 5 maintained a perfect order of the gender-mix in the rankings.

FAI Outdoor World Championship 2024			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		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	Arizona Airspeed	US	24		27	-1	33		36		31		23		26		26		25		22	-1	273	27.3
2	Aethers	FR	22		23	-4	33		32	-1	29		23		22		21		25		22		252	25.2
3	Qatar Tigers	QA	21		20	-3	26	-2	32		29	-1	20		21		20		19	-2	20		228	22.8
4	NMP PCH HayaBusa	BE	19		21	-2	25		25		25	-1	20		19		17		21	-1	20		212	21.2
5	Echochamber	SE	17		21	-1	24	-2	26		22	-1	16	-2	20		14	-2	19	-1	17		196	19.6
6	Airbus Illertissen Oceanside	DE	17		19		21	-1	26		23		16		19		15	-1	18	-2	16	-1	190	19.0
7	Agera	NO	14	-1	17	-2	18	-2	26		24		17		17		15		19		17		184	18.4
8	Out Of The Blue	NL	13	-1	17		22	-1	22	-1	22	-1	12	-1	19		14		18	-1	16	-1	175	17.5
8	Apex	UK	15		18		21	-2	25		21	-2	13	-2	18		14	-1	15	-2	15		175	17.5
10	Papea	ES	14	-1	15	-2	23		20	-1	23		14	-2	17		16		13	-1	15		170	17.0
11	Havoc	AU	13		13	-2	19	-1	16	-1	18		13		14	-1	12	-2	16		14		148	14.8
12	Netunos	BR	11		15	-1	17	-1	18	-1	19		13		15		10	-1	14	-1	12	-2	144	14.4

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Yellow: All Male (9), Magenta: Mixed Gender (3) = 75% - 25%

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Participation in 4-way Open at FAI Outdoor World Championships since 1985

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