posted May 14th, 2025 - The NSL News aftermath of the FAI Indoor World Championship 2025 continues with the closer look at the participation of 4-way teams with different gender proportions in the lineups. Formation Skydiving competition is obviously bringing different genders and ages together in the teams, who still perform the same sequences.

There are three different gender categories in the two horizontal 4-way formation skydiving competition events, 4-way Open and 4-way Women. The 4-way Open Class allows male and female competitors in the same lineup, while only female competitors are eligible for the 4-way Women competition. There is no exclusive 4-way Men event at FAI/ISC events, as it is formatted at military CISM championships.

The 4-way Women competition was added to the FAI/ISC event format in 2001, which included only 4-way Open and 8-way Open between 1985 and 1999. Teams with only female competitors are still eligible to register for the 4-way Open Class competition at FAI/ISC events. 8-way competition does not have a separate leaderboard for teams with only female team members. Most recently, Chinas 8-way team at the FAI Indoor World Championship 2025 had a complete lineup of female competitors. The NSL News breaks down all participating 4-way teams into the three categories for informational purpose. The mixed-gender lineups are all listed in the same category, even though the gender combination allows all three different variations between three females and one male team member, or three males and one female, and the 2-2 combination.

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	FR	32		23	-1	35		41		28		27		29		45		32		37	-2	329	32.9
2	Arizona Airspeed	US	27	-2	24		31		34		26		26	-1	27		49		34		36		314	31.4
3	NMP PCH HayaBusa	BE	29	-1	22	-2	33		40	-1	24	-3	23	-4	26		43	-4	28	-3	38	-3	306	30.6
4	China	CN	28	-1	21	-2	29	-2	38	-3	24	-3	26	-1	24	-2	39	-6	27	-4	36	-1	292	29.2
5	Skywalkers Junior	CZ	28		22	-2	30		39		25		23	-4	25		38	-2	27	-3	33		290	29.0
6	Nephtys	FR	28		23		29	-2	36		25		24		24	-2	39		31	-2	30	-2	289	28.9
7	XPG4	US	24		19	-1	24	-3	35	-1	23		22		21	-1	38		24	-2	31	-1	261	26.1
7	NFTO	UK	24	-1	22		26	-1	28	-4	22	-1	22		22	-1	36		29		30		261	26.1
7	Fly X Amnesya	IT	26		19		25	-2	32	-1	23		22	-2	23		32	-5	27	-4	32		261	26.1
10	Qatar Lions	QA	26	-1	19	-3	28	-1	31	-5	24		21	-2	22	-1	34		24	-4	31		260	26.0
11	Echochamber	SE	23	-1	17	-2	27	-1	32	-2	22	-1	22		25	-1	34	-3	27	-2	28	-4	257	25.7
12	Papea	ES	26	-1	18	-3	25		35	-2	19	-2	21	-3	21	-2	33	-3	28	-2	29	-3	255	25.5
13	Out Of The Blue	NL	22		18		21	-3	29	-2	21		21	-1	20	-1	28	-3	25	-1	24	-2	229	22.9
14	Realfly Fire	CH	22		14	-3	23		31		19		18	-3	18	-1	26	-4	21	-3	25	-1	217	21.7
15	Airdrops	CH	16	-3	15	-2	18	-2	30		20		18		18		27	-1	20	-1	25	-1	207	20.7
16	Netunos	BR	20	-1	16		20	-3	26	-2	18		18	-1	18		27		21	-1	19	-3	203	20.3
17	Singapore	SG	17		10	-2	15	-2	21	-1	12	-2	16	-1	10	-5	14	-5	19		16	-3	150	15.0
18	Singapore	SG	16		10	-4	11	-4	17	-5	14	-1	15	-2	11	-4	15	-3	15	-2	19	-1	143	14.3
19	Thailand	TH	8	-1	7	-2	7		11	-5	7		7	-3	5	-3	8	-4	11		8	-3	79	7.9

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Grey: All Male (9), Magenta: All Female (5), Yellow: Mixed Gender (5) = 48% - 26% - 26%

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The first combined leaderboard of all teams in horizontal 4-way competition features the FAI Indoor World Championship 2025 in April at Paraclete XP. The total number of 19 teams, 14 in 4-way Open and five in 4-way Women, were once again dominated by teams with only male competitors (9). 4-way Women teams and 4-way Open Class teams with different variations of mixed-gender lineups matched participation, both with five teams.

The second leaderboard goes back to the FAI Outdoor World Championship in October last year at Crustal Coast, where a total of 17 teams competed in 4-way Open and 4-way Women. The number of participating teams was identical between lineups with only male competitors (9) and 4-way Women teams (5).

The different total number of teams, with two more at the indoor competition last month, was caused by two teams with mixed-gender lineups. This raised the proportion of this category from 18% in 2024 to 26% last month, which was now identical with the 26% of teams in 4-way Women. The all-male lineups still dominate the participation, with 48% at Paraclete XP after the 53% at Crystal Coast.

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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The third combined leaderboard goes back to the previous indoor world championship in Slovakia 2023, where participation was significantly higher with a total of 28 national teams, not considering the two 4-way junior teams who were not an official part of the event.

All three categories enjoyed almost equal numbers of teams. (9 - 9 - 10), even though the proportions were different. The all-male teams (32%) did not dominate participation as much as in 2024 (53%) and 2025 (48%). In fact, 4-way Women teams and mixed-gender lineups combined outscored the all-male lineups easily (19 - 9). It was much closer in 2024 (9 - 8) and 2025 (9 - 10),

The all-male lineups are the most consistent category with nine teams on the 4-way Open Class leaderboards at each of the three FAI/ISC events between 2023 and 2025. 4-way Women participation dropped from nine to five in the same time period, similar to mixed-gender (10 - 5) even though there is recovery from three in 2024 to five in 2025. The proportion of 4-way Women participation has been sinking in the last three years (32% - 29% - 26%).

FAI Indoor World Championship 2023			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		E,14,3		K,F,22,17		O,7,5		N,2,18		L,P,12,15		M,10,D,H		16,9,C		1,G,J,8		4,Q,21		6,20,A		Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	27		35		39		27	-2	31		38		38		29		28	-1	31		323	32.3
2	France 4-way Open	FR	27		33		38		26	-2	28		33	-3	35		28		30		30		308	30.8
3	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	BE	26	-1	30		33	-3	26	-3	28		37	-1	37		28		29		30	-1	304	30.4
4	France 4-way Women	FR	24	-2	30	-1	34	-1	22	-1	27		36		34	-1	27		25		26		285	28.5
5	XPG4	US	25		28	-1	33		25		25	-2	36		29	-3	24	-2	26		25	-2	276	27.6
6	Qatar Tigers	QA	24		29	-1	32	-1	26		25	-3	32		30	-2	26		25	-1	26	-1	275	27.5
7	NFTO	UK	25	-1	29		30	-2	20	-3	22	-3	32		34	-1	27	-1	23	-2	26		268	26.8
8	Jochen Schweizer Arena Airfource	DE	22	-2	28	-1	33		22		25		30	-2	31		24		24	-1	25	-1	264	26.4
9	HF Cubs	CZ	22	-2	25	-3	33		23	-1	19	-5	31	-1	33	-1	25	-3	23	-4	24	-2	258	25.8
10	Echochamber Oceanside	SE	22		26	-1	30		17	-5	24		28	-3	27	-2	23		24		25	-1	246	24.6
11	FLY X	IT	19	-4	27		30	-1	20	-1	21	-1	29	-2	30	-1	23	-1	22	-2	24	-1	245	24.5
12	HF Flying Circus	CZ	20	-2	23	-1	29	-1	22		20	-2	30	-2	29		24		20	-3	25		242	24.2
13	Purple Maze	FI	22		26		29		19	-3	21		29		27		25		21	-3	21	-2	240	24.0
13	Papea	ES	23	-1	24	-2	29	-2	19	-5	21	-2	28	-2	28		25		21	-1	22	-2	240	24.0
15	Out of the Blue	NL	22		23	-2	27	-2	21	-1	21		26	-1	26	-1	22	-1	21		22		231	23.1
16	Agera	NO	22		24		29		19	-1	23		25	-2	26	-2	23		19	-2	19	-3	229	22.9
17	Meraki	UK	17	-4	24		26	-3	22		19	-2	27		28		22	-1	23		18	-5	226	22.6
18	INIT-Y	BR	19	-2	20	-3	29		15	-4	19	-1	27		27		23	-1	23		20	-2	222	22.2
19	Piteraq	DE	22		19	-2	25		19		20		27		24		20		21		21		218	21.8
20	Realfly Fire	CH	20	-1	21	-2	26	-1	17	-2	20		27		24	-2	23		20	-1	19	-3	217	21.7
21	Bronteroc	HU	20	-1	22	-1	24	-3	18	-1	20	-1	26	-1	25	-1	19	-1	21		18	-2	213	21.3
22	FlySpot Sky4Four	PL	21		21	-1	24	-3	16	-2	21		27		25		17	-6	20	-1	20	-1	212	21.2
23	Red Bull Aerodynamix	AT	20	-1	21	-2	21	-3	16	-2	23		26	-1	25	-1	16	-3	20	-1	20	-1	208	20.8
24	Magic 4	LT	17	-1	19	-2	23		15	-4	20		27		25	-1	18	-3	19		18	-2	201	20.1
25	Airdrops	CH	18	-1	19	-2	23		13	-3	19		24		22	-1	19		21		16	-4	194	19.4
26	Windabona Angels Chicas	ES	18		16	-1	20	-1	16	-1	16	-1	22		16	-4	16	-1	18		17	-1	175	17.5
27	Fire Phoenix	IT	17		17	-1	20		14		14	-2	20	-2	16	-2	14	-1	16		16		164	16.4
28	Kiss My Grips	SK	13	-1	14	-2	19		14		12		19		16	-3	16	-1	16		13	-2	152	15.2

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Grey: All Male (9), Magenta: All Female (9), Yellow: Mixed Gender (10) = 32% - 32% - 36%

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