posted Dec 26th, 2025 - Golden Knights coach Niklas Hemlin has a long and special history with NMP PCH HayaBusa. That connection continues today, even though he is no longer actively competing outdoors. Niklas Hemlin previously won two consecutive outdoor world championship titles with the former Arizona Airspeed lineup (Mikhail Markine, Joey Marshall, Chris Kuhlmann, Brendan Haddon, with Alex Swindle on camera) before he started working closely with the Golden Knights.

It is no secret that the U.S. Army’s 4-way team is aiming for FAI gold medals at the next outdoor world championship in October 2026. The Golden Knights have worked very successfully with Niklas Hemlin over the past several years and have steadily closed the gap to the current world leaders in 4-way formation skydiving, Aethers from France.

However, Aethers and the Golden Knights are not the only teams targeting world championship gold—whether in 2026, 2028, or both. Belgium’s national 4-way team, NMP PCH HayaBusa, shares the same ambition and has made no secret of it. The formation skydiving world has every reason to anticipate one of the most exciting 4-way battles for medals in history at the upcoming outdoor world championships, likely again in 2028. This highly competitive environment is where Niklas Hemlin’s own journey as a 4-way world champion began.

FAI Dubai Mondial 2012			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open - Top 10		5,12,E		6,D,B,K		O,8,7		N,13,18		10,21,M		19,H,11		C,G,1,A		20,9,15		16,F,P,Q		2,J,4		Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	27		34		27	-1	22		23		23	-2	32		25		40		26		279	27.9
2	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	BE	25	-1	34	-2	27	-1	21	-1	23		24	-1	32	-1	27		40		25	-1	278	27.8
3	Aerodyne Aerokart	FR	26		30	-2	27		21		23		25		29	-1	23	-2	37		24		265	26.5
4	Evolution	CA	22		31		24		17	-1	19	-1	21		28		22		30	-2	22		236	23.6
5	Sky Panthers Barkli	RU	19	-2	29	-1	22	-1	21		21		18	-2	28		20	-2	35		20	-1	233	23.3
6	Satori	UK	18		26		21		17		15	-3	18	-1	23		17		27		18		200	20.0
7	eX3MO	IT	17	-1	24	-2	20		14		17		19		22		18	-1	28	-1	-		179	19.9
8	Paratec-Saar	DE	18		26		21		13		14	-2	16	-1	21	-3	18		30	-1	-		177	19.7
9	Rotor Out	AU	14	-2	25	-1	18	-1	15		17		18		22	-1	17		28		-		174	19.3
10	Bardagi	SE	17		26		20		14		16		15	-2	23		17	-2	24	-2	-		172	19.1

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Arizona Airspeed - NMP PCH HayaBusa at the FAI Dubai Mondial 2012 - Video Footage Courtesy of FAI/Skydive Dubai

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FAI Outdoor World Championship winners since 1985

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Niklas Hemlin has lost only one outdoor world championship to NMP PCH HayaBusa over the past 14 years as an active competitor. This chapter of rivalry began with the new Arizona Airspeed lineup that Mark Kirkby assembled after Menzelinsk 2010. Kirkby was the only member of the previous Airspeed lineup to continue after the team’s second-place finish in 2010. He recruited Niklas Hemlin, Thomas Hughes, and Josh Hall, with Bill Schmitz on camera.

At the same time, NMP PCH HayaBusa finished fourth in Menzelinsk, with Dennis Praet serving as a young alternate. Dennis Praet replaced Waedong So in 2011, and the new lineup—still with Danny Jacobs on camera—quickly demonstrated remarkable and unexpected strength. The team announced itself on the world stage by winning the Dubai Championship in January 2011, defeating both the reigning French 4-way world champions and Arizona Airspeed.

HayaBusa then secured second place behind France at the FAI Outdoor World Cup 2011. The new Airspeed lineup did not travel to Saarlouis, Germany, that year. However, with both teams posting 24+ point averages at the outdoor world cup and the USPA Nationals, it became clear that the Belgian team had caught up to their U.S. rivals, despite competing with new lineups at different events.

FAI Ottawa Mondial 2016			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		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	NMP PCH HayaBusa	BE	24	25	35	26	19	22	27	39	23	22	262	26.2
2	Arizona Airspeed	US	21	23	31	26	18	22	27	40	23	23	254	25.4
3	France	FR	21	20	30	21	18	21	27	39	21	20	238	23.8
4	Black Cat	RU	22	20	30	24	17	21	24	33	21	19	231	23.1
5	Qatar Tigers	QA	21	20	30	24	17	20	23	36	17	18	226	22.6
6	Evolution	CA	20	18	29	24	16	18	23	32	18	16	214	21.4
7	Satori XL	UK	18	19	27	24	16	18	22	30	18	18	210	21.0
8	Airbus	DE	16	18	29	19	15	18	22	29	14	19	199	19.9
9	Savolo	ZA	15	15	25	19	14	15	16	28	17	15	179	17.9
10	Final Fire	AT	16	15	25	17	12	16	18	29	17	13	178	17.8
11	Ex3mo	IT	18	15	21	18	13	14	19	25	17	14	174	17.4
12	Rotor Out	AU	16	16	24	14	13	16	18	22	14	13	166	16.6
13	Pangaea	DK	15	16	24	19	11	13	16	25	12	13	164	16.4
14	China	CN	14	15	21	15	12	11	16	24	12	12	152	15.2
15	M4trix	NL	13	13	16	11	11	12	14	20	12	12	134	13.4
16	H4O	IE	13	13	17	8	9	12	9	15	10	10	116	11.6
17	MeXtreme	MX	8	8	13	8	9	9	9	12	8	7	91	9.1

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NMP PCH HayaBusa - Arizona Airspeed at the FAI Ottawa Mondial 2016

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The stage was set for a serious showdown at the FAI Dubai Mondial 2012. Arizona Airspeed had won the previous direct confrontation between the same three teams at the Shamrock Showdown in March 2012, while NMP PCH HayaBusa responded by winning the indoor competition at the World Challenge in April. Airspeed later impressed with a 26.5 average at the USPA Nationals, while HayaBusa posted a 26.1 at the outdoor world cup in Prostejov.

The biggest showdown of the year followed in December 2012, when the same three top contenders traveled to Dubai. There, a spectacular duel between Airspeed and HayaBusa was decided literally in the final second of the total 350 seconds of working time. It became the first time that Niklas Hemlin won a world championship title over NMP PCH HayaBusa—by a single point, secured in the final second of Round 10.

Niklas Hemlin then took a two-year break from Airspeed before returning with the 2015 lineup of Thiago Gomes, Niklas Hemlin, Thomas Hughes, and Chris Farina. In 2016, Mikhail Markine replaced Chris Farina. During the same period, NMP PCH HayaBusa entered their second year with Jeroen “Bob” Nollet replacing Roy Janssen, after winning their first world championship title in Prostejov 2014 over an Airspeed lineup without Hemlin, and then again over Airspeed with Hemlin in Ottawa 2016. From 2013 through 2021, the Belgian signature lineup defined an era, collecting four sets of FAI world championship gold medals. The story of Niklas Hemlin’s rivalry with NMP PCH HayaBusa is not finished—it will continue with another twist and turn.