posted Nov 1st, 2024 - The well covered and discussed "formation skydiving competition sweep" (FS Sweep) is as little an official award for any country's delegation as the unofficial "amateur world championship title" or the "double duties". They are no more than journalistic topics for the NSL News, even though they are quite meaningful for teams and competitors, and for the audience, as well.

The 26th FAI World Formation Skydiving Championships had the potential for a new FS Sweep, as the NSL News mentioned several times during the previews of the event. The unofficial FS Sweep began as the combination of winning 4-way and 8-way both at world championships, and the U.S. delegation accomplished this three times between 1985 and 1999 (1985 - 1995 - 1997).

DeLand Air Bears (4-way) and Coors (8-way) won both sets of gold medals at the first event with the current Formation Skydiving competition format in 1985. Then it was the powerful combination of the original Arizona Airspeed lineup and the Golden Knights that was responsible for the two consecutive FS Sweeps in 1995 and 1997. FAI/ISC added the 4-way Women category to the set of categories in 2001, which made it more challenging to accomplish the FS Sweep, as the sweeping delegation now had to generate three winning teams. It still happened once in 2004, when DeLand Majik (4-way Open), Arizona Airspeed (8-way) and Synchronicity (4-way Women) won all three sets of FAI gold medals for the U.S. delegation for the first time.

FAI World Championship winners in Formation Skydiving since 1985

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The FS Sweep became even more challenging when FAI/ISC added the next event to the world championship format, Vertical Formation Skydiving (VFS). However, France had a very strong momentum after winning the 8-way gold medals in 2006 and 2008 with almost exactly the same lineups, and the 4-way lineup of 2006 and 2008 finished only one single point behind Airspeed Odyssey in Maubeuge 2008.

Both 4-way teams came back with exactly the same lineups in Menzelinsk 2010, and France won by three points this time. The French 8-way team used the momentum of 2006 and 2008 to win the 8-way gold medals, as well.

France was a slow starter in 4-way Women and had not sent a team to the first world championship in this new event in 2001. The French delegation eventually joined with a 4-way Women team in 2003 (5th) and were up to the medal rankings a year later (2nd). They followed up with silver in 2006 and bronze in 2008, before the Deep Blue lineup won the first gold medals in the new third event for France. French 4-time world champion in 4-way Open (1987 - 1987 - 1989 - 1991) Philippe "Le Professeur" Schorno had made 4-way VFS his new favorite event as one of the French coaches, and he moved his country ahead in the newest world championship event. The VFS gold medals completed the first and only FS Sweep with four categories in Menzelinsk 2010 - until Crystal Coast 2024.

FAI Outdoor World Championship 2024			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open 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	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

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Arizona Airspeed - GKXP8 at the 26th FAI World Formation Skydiving Championships, Video Footage Courtesy of FAI/ISC/InTime

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FAI Outdoor World Championship 2024			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open 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	GKXP8	US	19	-1	21	-1	22		26		21	-1	21	-1	25		24		37		23		239	23.9
2	Qatar Falcons	QA	16		18		19		21		17		16	-1	20		19		25	-2	19		190	19.0
3	Operation Adler	DE	14		14		11	-2	13	-1	13		14		15		14		20	-2	15		143	14.3

The U.S. delegation came close to the new 4-category sweep in 2016. However, Belgium's new 4-way giant NMP PCH HayaBusa were in the way since 2014. Belgium will probably never have the resources in Formation Skydiving competition to support world champions in all four events, while it takes only one other gold medal winner to avoid a complete FS Sweep.

GKXP8 and Arizona Airspeed together did not even give away a single round in 4-way and 8-way at Crystal Coast, while the complete FS Sweep was still in jeopardy until SDC Core's 4-round sprint at the end of the 4-way VFS competition. They turned the 1-point deficit after Round 6 into a 1-point victory in Round 10 for a complete FS Sweep.

It's an interesting coincidence that one of the other journalistic topics, the "double duties" and the "double gold", also connects the two 4-category sweeps in Menzelinsk 2010 and Crystal Coast 2024. The NSL News pointed out multiple times in the past that French national coach Mathieu Bernier was the first Formation Skydiving competitor who won two FAI gold medals in two different events at the same world championship in Menzelinsk 2010. Mathieu Bernier did this in 4-way Open and 8-way, and Jeana Billings combined 4-way Women and 8-way at Crystal Coast, both were part of the respective complete FS Sweeps.

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 - SDC Core at the 26th FAI World Formation Skydiving Championships, Video Footage Courtesy of FAI/ISC/InTime

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FAI Outdoor World Championship 2024			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way VFS 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	SDC Core	US	14	17	25	13	23	28	13	13	14	14	174	17.4
2	Blue Pelican	NO	19	14	19	15	26	29	12	12	14	13	173	17.3
3	Italy	IT	16	12	15	11	22	24	13	10	13	13	149	14.9