posted Apr 7th, 2016 - The Sun Path Products NSL News mentioned during the live coverage from the World Challenge 2016 that the 35-pointer of the French FLY-IN Girls in Round 5 was the first time that a female lineup tied a score of a reigning 4-way Open Class world champion.

It was actually only the first time at a meet where both teams appeared on the same leaderboard. The Golden Knights had gone even a step further when they outscored NMP PCH Hayabusa in Round 6 at the 1st FAI World Indoor Skydiving Championships last year. Golden Knights and Hayabusa competed in different categories, even though they performed the same ten sequences. The U.S. Army team also tied another Hayabusa score in Round 8 at the same event.

With the performance in Prague last year, the Golden Knights provided additional food for thought in the discussion of the female 4-way category, which World Challenge host Paul Mayer initiated during the live coverage of the Bedford meet last weekend.

World Challenge 2016			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		P,2,10	8,F,15	G,14,17	L,H,E,13	M,7,O,1	16,21,11	N,D,4,9	18,20,A	G,19,3	C,K,B,22	Total	Avg
1	NMP PCH Hayabusa	BE	27	31	28	39	35	25	38(-2)	30	31	36(-1)	320	32.0
2	French FLY-IN Girls	FR	22(-2)	27	27	34	35	22(-1)	33(-1)	24(-1)	29	33	286	28.6

FAI World Indoor 2015			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		22,F,20	16,B,14	3,H,4	L,K,7,C	10,D,6	15,A,Q,M	5,8,P	O,21,11	18,G,2	12,9,N	Total	Avg
1	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	BE	29	30	30	43	28	36	30	26	29	30	311	31.1
2	Golden Knights	US	25	28	29	41	24	40	28	26	24	29	294	29.4

The current results of the poll are showing a significant majority voting against the need of the female 4-way category. One participant in the poll posted several interesting questions related to the topic, which can still be discussed in the forum where the poll question is posted.

The same topic once again connected indirectly the two best female 4-way teams in the world, French FLY-IN Girls and Golden Knights. Both teams want to win the gold medals in the questioned category, while they are comparing their own performances primarily with the best Open Class teams in the world. In fact, both teams are currently the best behind NMP PCH Hayabusa and Arizona Airspeed.

The last time when French FLY-IN Girls and Golden Knights met each other directly was at the Clash of Champions 2015, a few months after the FAI World Indoor Skydiving Championships in Prague. Then they missed each other at the Shamrock Showdown and the World Challenge.

The Sun Path Products NSL News used once again the results of the recent indoor results to estimate the latest relationship between French FLY-IN Girls and Golden Knights. NMP PCH Hayabusa and SDC Rhythm XP attended the events where either of the two female teams competed, as well, and they provided scores to compare with indirectly.

Hayabusa's scoring relationship with the Golden Knights (31.3 - 27.7) at their last meet, the Clash of Champions, indicates

that the U.S. Army team would have finished with a 28.3 average in Bedford. The relationship with SDC Rhythm XP at the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship (27.6 - 26.8) would give the Golden Knights a 27.6 average at the World Challenge.

The truth might be somewhere in between (28.0) or anywhere else, if the numbers were far off. However, the 28.6 average of the French FLY-IN Girls is a very strong statement, and the race for the gold medals in 4-way Women seems to be wide open...