posted Oct 20th, 2018 - 8-way and 4-way Women competition at the FAI World Meet 2018 both had lower participation compared to the previous world meet, while more 4-way Open Class teams competed in Australia than at Skydive Chicago in 2016.

France and Canada did not have 8-way teams at Gold Coast, as the NSL News mentioned yesterday, and five participating countries of 2016 (Belgium, Poland, Russia, Czech Republic, Denmark) did not send teams to the 4-way Women competition this month. Sweden was back with a team in this category after Fire had attended the FAI World Meet 2012 in Dubai.

France is back in the top spot of the 4-way Women competition that the Golden Knights had taken away at the FAI Word Meet 2016, after the French national teams won the title three consecutive times (2010 - 2012 - 2014).

The Aerodyne Weembi Girls did not only win the next gold medals for France in Australia far ahead of all other teams. They were also in 3rd place of the combined AAA Class leaderboard, as the NSL News reported on 15 October 2018.

FAI World Meet 2018			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Women		21,L,B,G		22,18,17		19,7,O		J,16,12		10,A,D,15		Q,M,F,C,N		H,20,P,13		6,14,11		E,2,5		4,1,3		Total	Avg
1	Aerodyne Weembi Girls	FR	29	-1	20		24		22		25		56	-1	23		18	-2	22		18	-1	257	25.7
2	NFTO	UK	20	-3	15		22	-1	19		18		38	-2	18		17		19		16		202	20.2
3	Team X	SE	17	-3	10	-3	18		16		14		36	-3	15	-3	13		18		12	-1	169	16.9
4	Phoenix XP	US	17	-2	12		17		14		15	-1	37		16	-1	12	-2	14	-2	13		167	16.7
4	Boomerang Betty	AU	19	-1	11	-1	18		14		15		32	-2	15		13		17		13		167	16.7
6	Fuzion Voltige	CA	17	-1	9	-2	18		14		15	-1	34	-2	14	-2	13	-2	14	-2	13		161	16.1
7	Skynamite	DE	19		12		16	-1	14		14	-1	27	-1	13	-3	12	-1	15		12	-1	154	15.4

Teams from Great Britain had dominated the 4-way Women competition between 2003 and 2008 with three sets of gold medals (2003 - 2006 - 2008) before France took over, and it seems like the current British national team is on the way to challenging the French top position soon.

NFTO was formed when Kaizen, British national team in 4-way Women, discontinued after the 3rd place at the FAI World Meet 2014. The first lineup (Rai Ahmed, Ane Brentford, Anna Hicks, Maria Russell) qualified as the national team in 4-way Women at the UK Nationals 2015 and competed for Great Britain at the FAI World Meet 2016, where they defended the British bronze medals successfully.

It was already a good battle with the Canadian team Fuzion in 2016 before NFTO could bring home the next set of British bronze medals. It did not seem to become any easier for NFTO in 2017 when the same Fuzion lineup picked up the pace, while NFTO had to deal with personnel changes. Catherine Anderson had joined the team, and other random changes made a consistent progression difficult. NFTO eventually ended up on the same scoring level as in 2016.

The last change in the NFTO lineup came when former 4mula and Volition member Sian Stokes joined the team at the beginning of the 2018 season, while Fuzion lost young Valerie Bisson, who re-focused on her academic career.

FAI World Meet 2016			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Women		12,A,16		18,15,O		1,F,E,C		17,B,14		10,2,20		21,11,G		J,5,19		L,M,K,7		D,8,4		3,13,Q		Total	Avg
1	Golden Knights	US	21		21		30		20	-2	17		19		24		35		20		17	-2	224	22.4
2	French Girls	FR	21		18		30	-1	23		17		18	-2	24		34		18	-1	14		217	21.7
3	NFTO	UK	17		15		21		19		13		16		18		26	-1	17		13	-1	175	17.5
4	Parachute Montreal Fuzion	CA	18		15	-1	19	-1	16	-2	14		16		17	-2	25		17		14		171	17.1
5	Les Stunts	BE	15		14		20	-1	16		11	-1	13		16		24		15		13		157	15.7
6	Bellatrix	AU	13		12		20	-1	16		12		13		15		22		13		14		150	15.0
7	Skymix	DE	13		11		15	-1	15		12		13		14		23		12		12	-1	140	14.0
8	No Mercy	PL	14		14		19	-1	13	-1	9		11	-1	12	-2	19	-4	14		11	-1	136	13.6
9	Infra Red Band	RU	15		12	-1	16	-3	13	-1	9	-2	11		13		17	-2	14		10		130	13.0
10	CZ Ladies	CZ	11		11		14	-1	13		9		10		12		19		9	-2	10		118	11.8
11	Valkyria	DK	10		8		16		10		9		10		11	-1	17	-2	12		10		113	11.3

Fuzion had to bring new tail Stephanie Longchamps up to speed, and NFTO moved up to the 20-average level that the team confirmed two times at UK events before traveling to Australia.

After battling for the bronze medals in 2016, NFTO and Fuzion drifted apart at the world meet this month. NFTO turned the bronze medals of 2016 into silver in Australia and had as little competition for the 2nd place as Aerodyne Weembi had for the top spot in 4-way Women.

Fuzion Voltige on the other hand was back on a similar performance and scoring level as in 2016 and 2017, which was barely enough to be engaged in the battle for bronze medals this year. Team X from Sweden, U.S. team Phoenix XP and Australia's Boomerang Betty had all caught up to the 16+ level.

The Canadian team collected 12 point deductions in this battle for bronze medals, which was too much to keep up with Team X, even though the Swedish team lost even more points in the judging room. The 16.1 average was only enough for the 6th place this time.

NFTO accomplished the 2nd place goal with the next 20+ average and could be aiming even higher. There are two years until the next UK gold medals in this event could be in reach, 12 years after Bodyflight Storm won the last gold medals for the UK delegation in Maubeuge 2008...