posted Apr 24th, 2025 - France was actually the dominating nation in 4-way Formation Skydiving competition between 1985 and 2003, with six world championship titles, three sets of silver medals and one 3rd place, even though the original Arizona Airspeed lineup (Jack Jefferies, Kirk Verner, Dan BC, Mark Kirkby, John Lemming on camera) won twice in 1995 and 1997. The U.S. 4-way teams took home the William H. Ottley Sword for the world champions, also known as the 4-way Excalibur, four times in the same time period, with five sets of silver medals and one 3rd place, as well.

In fact, the four consecutive world championship 4-way titles in 1987, 1989, 1991 and 1993 initiated the Arizona Airspeed project, as the best U.S. 4-way competitors from the east and west coast were tired of ending up behind the French national teams and decided to join forces.

The French dominance ended when U.S. teams (DeLand Majik, DeLand Fire, Airspeed Odyssey) won three times in 2004, 2006 and 2008 before France interrupted the U.S. streak in Menzelinsk 2010 with a Formation Skydiving Sweep. That was the event where current French national coach Mathieu Bernier became the only competitor in history who won two gold medals in 4-way Open and 8-way at the same outdoor world championship. However, France and United States both were then surprised by a new player in the 4-way world. NMP PCH HayaBusa's first professional military lineup (Roy Janssen, Dennis Praet, David and Andy Grauwels) took over in Prostejov 2014 and defended the 4-way sword three times successfully (2016, 2018, 2021) with Jeroen Nollet in the tail slot for Roy Janssen.

Shamrock Showdown 2025		1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	17,M,10		20,19,F		18,22,K		N,G,3,16		O,E,P,21		9,L,5		6,13,1		C,J,Q,4		D,8,A,H		12,11,14		Total	Avg
1	Aethers	25		23		21		24		34		32		23		32		29		18		261	26.1
FAI Indoor World Championship 2025		1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	D,4,17		C,22,10		5,P,Q,18		1,M,J,O		16,6,19		H,8,21		12,13,A		L,G,K,9		15,F,7		E,2,N,B		Total	Avg
1	Aethers Medjay	32		23	-1	35		41		28		27		29		45		32		37	-2	329	32.9
Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2025		1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	10,O,F,7		21,20,3		Q,G,2,5		B,19,P,1		H,9,11		16,14,6		K,E,A,22		J,15,8		4,C,12		17,N,D,M		Total	Avg
1	Aethers Medjay	33	-1	22	-1	32	-1	32		36		27		35		23	-1	27		45	-1	312	31.2
Wind Games 2025		1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	L,N,O,6		M,3,A,J		B,D,5,K		Q,10,7		22,1,C		15,11,F		E,14,17		8,21,4		9,20,H		G,19,P,13		Total	Avg
1	Aethers Medjay	39	-1	43		48	-1	29	-1	26		29		32		25		38		32	-1	341	34.1

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Aethers Medjay at Wind Games - Paraclete XP Indoor Championship - FAI Indoor World Championship

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FAI World Championship medals in 4-way Open between 1985 and 2024

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The Belgian 4-way dominance throughout four outdoor world championships matched the French record of 1987 - 1993 and has not been copied again ever since. Arizona Airspeed of 2022 - 2024 (Niklas Hemlin, Mikhail Markine, Joey Marshall, Chris Kuhlmann) dominated their time period like no other team in the past, while the recent changes in the lineup have re-opened the door to FAI gold medals for other U.S. and international teams.

The current French national team in 4-way Open, Aethers (Damien Gouriou, Alban Rumolo, Tom Mattoni, Mathieu Quizy), and national coach Mathieu Bernier, had already expected to be closer to the gold medal position at Crystal Coast last year. However, the previous Airspeed lineup was at the peak of their performance level in their 5th year together, and the young French lineup had no chance to get close.

National coach Mathieu Bernier still believed in the same lineup and made new plans for the next two years. Aethers are now at the beginning of their 4th year, and they leave no doubt that they plan to let nothing get in their way on the road to the FAI outdoor world championship gold medals in 2026. Success next year in Eloy would end the dry French period of 16 years since Menzelinsk 2010. Mathieu Bernier's lineup of 2010 (Julien Degen, Jeremie Rollett, Guillaume Bernier) had also needed four years until winning their gold medals for France.

Shamrock Showdown 2025			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		17,M,10		20,19,F		18,22,K		N,G,3,16		O,E,P,21		9,L,5		6,13,1		C,J,Q,4		D,8,A,H		12,11,14		Total	Avg
1	Aethers	FR	25		23		21		24		34		32		23		32		29		18		261	26.1
2	Golden Knights	US	19	-2	24		18	-2	24		28	-1	26	-2	20		27	-2	26	-1	15	-2	227	22.7
3	Arizona Airspeed	US	23	-1	21		18		22		27	-2	28	-1	18	-1	24	-4	26		17		224	22.4
4	SDC Rhythm XP	US	20		17	-2	17		16	-2	24	-3	24	-1	19		18	-7	21	-1	15		191	19.1
5	Qatar Cheetahs	QA	17	-2	18		14		18	-2	24		19	-2	15	-1	24		21		12	-1	182	18.2
6	Airbus 4-way Illertissen	DE	15	-4	14	-2	13		16		19	-3	19		15		23		19		12		165	16.5
7	Jen and the Double D's	US	15		13	-1	13		13	-1	18	-1	13		13		18	-2	17		9	-2	142	14.2
8	4Action	US	9	-1	10	-1	8	-1	9		13	-1	10		9		11	-3	12		9		100	10.0

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Aethers at the Shamrock Showdown 2025

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Damien Gouriou and Alban Rumolo have been 4-way team mates in the French 4-way Open Class team since 2019. Damien Gouriou has competed in 4-way for France since 2013 and attended six outdoor world championships consecutively. The current lineup promises him now the best chances to win his first FAI gold medal.

Mathieu Bernier wants the young French team to collect as much competition experience as possible, and he sent the team to four high-profile indoor and outdoor meets. It was a statement at the same time, with the message that France is back in 4-way Open with an extremely talented and skilled team.

Aethers were showing in all four events how far they have distanced themselves from the rest of the 4-way teams in the world at the moment. Three of the events were on U.S. soil where the strongest opposition could be expected. NMP PCH HayaBusa experienced the new French 4-way strength at the Wind Games 2025.

There is still no guarantee for gold medals in 2026, as the strongest opponents still have a lot of time to close the gap. Mathieu Bernier is experienced enough to be aware of that, and his team keeps pointing out that they have more and even better in the works. The French team have already accomplished one very important task by convincing the judges that they are fast and clean at the same time on the highest performance level. The lack of any point deductions at the Shamrock Showdown 2025 was another very important message from France.

Lineups of French national teams in 4-way Open since 2007

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