posted May 9th, 2026 - The German 4-way Women team Meltemi Oceanside Illertissen was considered a potential bronze-medal contender in this category at the FAI Indoor World Cup 2026 when the first list of registered teams for the event became available. A different Meltemi lineup had won FAI bronze medals at the FAI Outdoor World Cup 2023, with two members of the current team — Linda Köb and Franziska Wiesler — while the current lineup, now with Petra Jastram and Nadeja Sievers, had posted a promising 21.4 team-record average at the national indoor championship in March this year.

The outlook for a bronze medal changed when the British delegation registered NFTO with a strong lineup for the 4-way Women competition, as NSL News reported on March 28th. It shifted again when the U.S. delegation added XPG4 to the list of teams competing at Weembi Lille, even though it later turned out that the U.S. entry in 4-way Women would feature a new XP Angels lineup, including 4-way Women and 8-way world champion Jeana Billings.

The latest NSL Power Rankings, published on April 8th, projected the same group of teams — including Meltemi — in a battle for 5th place. In the end, however, neither NFTO nor the U.S. team secured the bronze medal position, which was convincingly claimed by China’s new second 4-way Women team.

FAI Indoor World Cup 2026			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Women		J,20,C,4		10,O,L,M		B,21,N,H		14,F,3		18,16,9		E,6,8		19,1,Q		G,5,12		P,D,17,22		15,11,2		Total	Avg
1	China Hubei 1	CN	31		35		37	-1	26	-1	30		29		29	-1	30		32		23	-2	302	30.2
2	Nephtys	FR	29		36		33	-4	25	-2	27		26	-1	28		29		29		21		283	28.3
3	China Hubei 2	CN	27	-2	28	-2	29	-2	24		25	-2	27		25		27	-3	26	-3	20	-2	258	25.8
4	NFTO	UK	24	-2	28	-1	32		23	-2	19	-4	18	-3	23		21	-1	25		20		233	23.3
5	Thyra	NO	25		26		27	-1	21		20		24		22	-1	20		25		19		229	22.9
6	XP Angels	US	26		23	-1	25	-2	23		20		22	-2	20	-3	20	-1	24		18	-1	221	22.1
7	Meltemi Oceanside Illertissen	DE	22		24		27		21		20		22		21		16	-3	21		16	-1	210	21.0
8	Airdrops	CH	19	-1	25		27		17	-3	18	-1	21		21	-2	16	-2	23		16		203	20.3
9	WingX	CH	21	-1	25		25	-2	21		19		17	-2	20	-1	19		21	-1	14	-2	202	20.2
10	Les Hermines	FR	22		22		23		20		15	-3	19		21		19		23		17		201	20.1
11	Indonesia Women	ID	20	-3	25		23	-4	19	-1	20	-1	19	-2	18	-2	20		19	-1	16	-1	199	19.9
12	Aeroxs	FI	20		21		24	-3	18	-1	16	-1	21		15	-3	17		18	-1	16		186	18.6
13	Valkyrie	IT	16	-3	23		24	-3	11	-5	17		18	-1	18	-2	18	-1	20		14	-2	179	17.9

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Meltemi Oceanside Illertissen at the FAI Indoor World Cup 2026

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NFTO finished 25 points behind the bronze medal winners from China (258–233), while XP Angels ended up in 6th place. Norway’s young Thyra lineup eventually claimed 5th place and even challenged NFTO for 4th throughout the ten rounds (233–229). Meltemi performed at a level similar to its result at the German indoor nationals (21.4 to 21.0 average), finishing 19 points behind Thyra in 5th place.

Meltemi member Linda Köb once again handled double duties in both 4-way Women and 8-way competition, something she has been accustomed to since training and competing with the Airbus 8-way team between 2018 and 2022. She won 8-way bronze medals in Eloy 2022 and then continued with Operation Adler in 2023, successfully defending her FAI 8-way bronze medal at Crystal Coast 2024.

Meltemi was launched as a 4-way Women team in 2021 and represented the German delegation at the same two outdoor world championships in 2022 and 2024. Linda Köb has been the only team member to balance competition and training commitments with German 8-way teams alongside her 4-way Women duties.

FAI Indoor World Cup 2026			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open		J,20,C,4		10,O,L,M		B,21,N,H		14,F,3		18,16,9		E,6,8		19,1,Q		G,5,12		P,D,17,22		15,11,2		Total	Avg
1	Aethers Nephtys	FR	37		32		37		37		33		29	-1	32		29		32	-1	32		330	33.0
2	Paraclete XP8	US	36	-2	33		29	-3	34	-2	27	-3	27	-1	30		30	-2	33	-2	31		310	31.0
3	D'Arc8	FR	36		28	-1	31		32	-2	30		28	-2	29		30		33		32		309	30.9
4	Nova	FR	28	-1	25	-1	27		28		25		23	-1	26		25		30		27		264	26.4
5	China	CN	23	-2	26		22		24		23	-1	22		23	-2	20		22		21		226	22.6
6	FLY X8	IT	25		23		22		22		22	-1	21		23	-1	17		20	-1	19		214	21.4
7	Netunos	BR	20	-3	19	-3	18	-2	20	-1	21	-1	21		18		20		22	-1	18		197	19.7
8	Airbus	DE	20	-1	21		19		21		20		17		19		19		21		18		195	19.5
9	Octobuzz by Banter	UK	21		17		19		19	-1	18	-1	16	-1	17		17		17		18		179	17.9
10	Infinite Octane XP	US	20	-1	19		16	-1	18	-2	17	-1	14	-3	18	-1	18		19		15	-1	174	17.4
11	Chicanovas	DE	20	-1	17		16	-2	20		16	-1	17		17	-1	17	-3	15		14	-2	169	16.9
12	Deton8	UK	13	-1	15		14	-1	15		14		14		13	-1	15		13	-1	13		139	13.9
13	Elev8	UK	10	-5	15	-2	15	-1	14	-1	13	-2	16		17		13	-1	12	-2	13	-1	138	13.8

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Airbus 8-way - Chicanovas at the FAI Indoor World Cup 2026

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The double duties at Weembi Lille marked Linda Köb’s first experience competing in multiple events at an FAI indoor competition. Although she is no longer a member of Airbus, she is set to return to 8-way competition with Operation Adler at the FAI Outdoor World Championship 2026. For last month’s indoor World Cup, however, she joined the 8-way pickup team Chicanovas, becoming an opponent of the current Airbus lineup, which had also entered the event.

The better-prepared Airbus team, which had represented Germany with a different lineup at the FAI Outdoor World Cup 2025, won the all-German 8-way duel by 26 points (195–169). Chicanovas members Linda Köb, Göran Meyer, and Alexander Prendinger will now return to Operation Adler, which won the national indoor championship in March with a 19.7 average.

Airbus members Thomas Spielvogel and Max Thiele will make the same move back to Operation Adler for the outdoor season and aim to complete as much 8-way training as possible. Meltemi did not attend Germany’s national outdoor championship last year and therefore are not qualified to compete for Germany at Eloy 2026. However, the German federation could still choose to register a 4-way Women team for the outdoor World Championship.