posted Jan 2nd, 2026 - The final episode of the NSL News coverage of Niklas Hemlin's athletic career—and his unique relationship with NMP PCH HayaBusa—coincides with the turn of the year. The 2026 schedule includes the next outdoor world championship, traditionally the most significant event in formation skydiving competition.

Niklas Hemlin’s outdoor competition career has come to a pause, at least for now, following his fourth FAI gold medal at Crystal Coast 2024—three in 4-way with Arizona Airspeed and one in 8-way with Airspeed XP8. He has remained active in the sport through the indoor team Tunnel Vision, while his primary focus has shifted toward coaching the Golden Knights 4-way team. His role with the U.S. Army team represents a continuation of his elite 4-way career, now from the coach’s position. At the same time, this work extends his long-standing rivalry with NMP PCH HayaBusa.

The year following his third world championship title in 2024 produced strong coaching results in 2025. Under Niklas Hemlin’s guidance, the Golden Knights defeated his former teammates—Joey Marshall, Chris Kuhlmann, and videographer Alex Swindle—who competed with a new lineup including Doug Hendrix and Alisson de Vargas, at the USPA Nationals 2025. Now, the Golden Knights and coach Niklas Hemlin will face NMP PCH HayaBusa at this year’s outdoor world championship, turning a former duel into a three-way battle for the top spot—against the French Aethers.

USPA Nationals 2025			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		O,4,5		21,12,22		6,J,H,G		N,2,20		L,13,A,F		7,19,M		1,14,18		9,10,15		17,E,8		C,3,P,K		Total	Avg
G	Aethers Lille	FR	23	-1	19		33		23		34		26		18		21		23	-1	30	-1	250	25.0
1	Golden Knights	US	21	-3	19		29		22		36		26		19		19	-2	26		28		245	24.5
2	Arizona Airspeed	US	24		17		27		19		29		23		15		17		22		23	-1	216	21.6
3	SDC Rhythm XP	US	19		14	-1	27		19		26	-1	22		15		16		19		19	-5	196	19.6
4	Elsinore Elevate	US	17	-1	14		23		17		26		21		15		16		19		21		189	18.9
5	Inertia AZ	US	16	-1	14	-1	24		16	-1	25		20		14		16		12	-5	20		177	17.7
6	The OGs	US	17		9	-3	21	-1	15	-1	21	-2	18		13		12	-2	16	-1	18	-2	160	16.0
7	Redline XP	US	14	-1	10	-1	18		14		22		13	-3	12		12		17		15	-1	147	14.7
8	Ranch TNT	US	13	-3	11		21		13		18		16	-1	11		12		14		12	-2	141	14.1
8	Double Trouble	US	14		11		18		12	-1	18		15		12		12		13	-1	16		141	14.1
10	Rhetirement Rhedux	US	10	-2	7	-3	16		11	-1	17		14	-1	9	-1	8	-2	10	-1	14		118	11.8
11	XP Angels	US	11	-1	9	-1	15	-2	11	-2	16	-1	13		10		7	-2	13	-1	12		117	11.7

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Golden Knights - Arizona Airspeed at the USPA Nationals 2025

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The situation at the beginning of the new world championship year is arguably even more compelling than it was when Niklas Hemlin captured his first world championship title at Dubai 2012. Between 2012 and 2018, Arizona Airspeed faced only one truly serious challenger from Belgium, despite the presence of strong French 4-way Open Class lineups during that period.

NMP PCH HayaBusa have been steadily and methodically working their way back toward the top of the leaderboards, and it is difficult to imagine the current lineup finishing this year’s premier event in Eloy without FAI medals. HayaBusa is once again able to work in close cooperation with coach Gary Smith, who guided the team to its first world championship title and the three subsequent gold medals between 2014 and 2021. Gary Smith was unable to continue with the Belgian team while under contract with the Qatar delegation.

Gary Smith is now available again to NMP PCH HayaBusa, as he confirmed during an NSL Live Talk conversation on 10 December 2025. With Gary Smith back in the coaching role, HayaBusa represents a formidable obstacle for the Golden Knights and coach Niklas Hemlin in their pursuit of the first-ever FAI 4-way gold medals for a U.S. Army team.

FAI Outdoor World Cup 2025			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		B,Q,19,F		G,13,K,A		12,7,8		16,E,6		1,J,9		10,15,21		5,18,L		M,20,11		C,17,2		22,O,P,3		Total	Avg
1	Aethers Lille	FR	36	-2	36		20	-1	25		29		20		24	-1	24		24	-1	25		263	26.3
2	Golden Knights	US	33		31	-2	20		24	-1	27	-1	16	-2	23		24		24		24		246	24.6
3	NMP PCH HayaBusa	BE	33		28	-3	19		24		30		18	-1	19	-2	22		21	-1	23		237	23.7
4	SDC Rhythm XP	US	27	-1	22	-5	17		22		21	-3	14	-2	20	-1	18	-1	20		19		200	20.0
5	U.S. Team	US	24	-2	21	-2	17		20		24		15	-1	18		19		21	-1	19		198	19.8
6	Skywalkers Junior	CZ	28		22	-2	16	-1	20		23		15	-1	18		18	-1	17	-2	19		196	19.6
7	Echochamber	SE	26		25		16	-1	20		24		12	-1	16	-1	19		18	-1	19		195	19.5
8	Agera	NO	27	-1	23	-1	17		18	-2	23	-1	16		17		17	-1	17	-2	19		194	19.4
9	RhEvolution XP	US	27		22		15		18	-1	21		15		13	-2	17		17		17		182	18.2
10	Out Of The Blue	NL	21	-2	22		13	-2	17		21		14		16		17	-1	17		17		175	17.5
11	AYRO	BE	24		22		13		18		21		12	-1	13	-2	17		17		15		172	17.2
12	Papea	ES	21	-3	22		17		18		18	-3	14		13	-1	15	-2	16	-2	16	-1	170	17.0
13	Chop Chop!	AU	18		16		11		12		16		9		10	-1	14		12	-1	13		131	13.1
14	Les Hermines	FR	17	-2	16	-1	10	-1	12		15		8	-1	10		14		13		13		128	12.8
15	British Army Volt4ge	UK	16		12		10		12		14	-2	11		9	-1	11	-1	10	-1	11		116	11.6
16	Axis	UK	13	-1	10	-2	10		10		14		9		8		11		10	-1	9	-2	104	10.4

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Aethers (FR) - Golden Knights (US) - NMP PCH HayaBusa (BE) at the FAI Outdoor World Cup 2025

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Niklas Hemlin and Gary Smith may each be pursuing their own coaching agendas with two world-champion team franchises that have dominated the event since 2011. However, the future of 4-way outdoor competition is no longer defined by this rivalry alone—and that is precisely what makes the current landscape even more exciting.

The former duel between Arizona Airspeed and NMP PCH HayaBusa was fundamentally reshaped when French national coach Mathieu Bernier assembled his new national 4-way Open Class team, the Aethers (Alban Rumolo, Tom Mattoni, Damien Gouriou, Mathieu Quizy, now with Cameron Malie on camera). With this lineup, France inserted itself decisively into the established rivalry.

The Aethers first disrupted the long-standing duel with a second-place finish at Crystal Coast 2024 and have since claimed an undisputed position among the world’s top three teams. In this new rivalry, Arizona Airspeed initially remained the primary opponent, until the Golden Knights assumed the leading role in the United States.

At present, the competitive landscape can no longer be described as a duel—even though Arizona Airspeed is no longer part of the equation at the moment. Instead, Mathieu Bernier, Niklas Hemlin, and Gary Smith are now guiding the Aethers (France), the Golden Knights (USA), and NMP PCH HayaBusa (Belgium) toward a highly anticipated three-way confrontation at the peak of the new season in October. Their first direct showdown took place at the FAI Outdoor World Cup 2025, and the gap between the three leading contenders is expected to narrow further with each passing month.

FAI Outdoor World Championship winners since 1985

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