posted Aug 5th, 2026 - The NSL News review of the combined AAA Class leaderboards in 4-way Open and 4-way Women at FAI World Championships continues with the event in Rijeka 2004. The previous outdoor world championship had taken place only a year earlier when the national teams from the participating countries came together again for the next major competition in the sport.

FAI/ISC had decided to alternate the schedule of world championships and world cups. From then on, world championships would be held in even-numbered years, while world cups would take place in odd-numbered years. The cuts after Round 8 for the semifinals and after Round 9 for the finals remained in place. As a result, only ten 4-way Open teams advanced to Round 9, along with all ten teams in the 4-way Women category.

The top six teams in both categories then advanced to the final round. Rijeka 2004 was also the first FAI World Championship for the original NMP PCH HayaBusa lineup, who reached the final and finished sixth behind Germany's Airbus/EADS team. Only David Grauwels is still competing for HayaBusa, now as the team's camera flyer. Three members of the German lineup—Thomas Spielvogel, Olaf Biedermann, and Göran Meyer—are still part of the current 8-way team Operation Adler and are registered for the 8-way competition at the FAI Outdoor World Championship 2026, 22 years after competing in the 4-way Open event in Rijeka.

FAI Outdoor World Championship 2004			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Women		B,P,C,18	9,15,16	K,11,19	E,F,7,5	A,J,21,12	6,4,10	17,Q,L,1	H,14,3	13,22,O	N,M,D,2	Total	Avg
1	Synchronicity	US	20	16	15	23	17	13	17	15	14	19	169	16.9
2	France	FR	19	16	15	22	17	13	17	14	14	17	164	16.4
3	Ladybirds	RU	17	15	13	20	15	12	17	13	13	18	153	15.3
4	Kewara	IT	17	15	12	21	13	13	15	13	15	17	151	15.1
5	Diva	BE	16	9	12	17	13	11	14	13	10	10	125	12.5
6	Chicas	DE	14	10	10	15	12	11	14	10	10	10	116	11.6
7	Great Britain	UK	14	10	7	14	11	10	11	11	9	-	97	10.8
8	South Africa	ZA	12	6	5	5	9	6	12	10	6	-	71	7.9
9	Spain	ES	6	7	5	10	7	3	8	7	3	-	56	6.2
10	AlfaFox	UA	6	3	2	9	6	4	7	6	6	-	49	5.4

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DeLand Majik and Kewara at the Shamrock Showdown 2004

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Participation in the 4-way Women competition returned to ten teams in Rijeka, matching the inaugural event in 2001 after dropping to eight teams at the second championship in Gap 2003. The French 4-way Women team won the country's first medals in the event after missing the inaugural competition in Spain in 2001 and finishing fifth in Gap 2003. Since then, French 4-way Women teams have won a medal at every outdoor world championship.

The scoring level in the 4-way Women competition continued to rise, as illustrated by the combined 4-way Open and 4-way Women AAA Class leaderboards. No 4-way Women team made the overall Top 10 in Spain 2001. British team V-Max became the first 4-way Women team to finish in the overall Top 10 at Gap 2003, sharing 10th place with the Swedish team Phoenix after Round 8.

Phoenix, with Echochamber member Mattias Nord in the lineup, missed the first cut for the eight-team semifinals in 2003, while V-Max advanced to the final two rounds in the 4-way Women competition. Mattias Nord will compete at his next outdoor world championship this October in Eloy, 23 years after his 10th-place finish in Gap 2003. Echochamber will complete all ten rounds, together with all other participating 4-way teams, as the competition cuts have been eliminated. Echochamber is now one of the leading contenders for the unofficial amateur world championship title.

FAI Outdoor World Championship 2004			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open/Women Combined		B,P,C,18	9,15,16	K,11,19	E,F,7,5	A,J,21,12	6,4,10	17,Q,L,1	H,14,3	13,22,O	N,M,D,2	Total	Avg
1	DeLand Majik	US	29	23	17	30	18	19	27	21	19	24	227	22.7
2	Maubeuge	FR	28	22	18	30	17	19	23	20	18	24	219	21.9
3	Sky Panthers	RU	24	21	19	25	22	15	28	19	16	22	211	21.1
4	Sinapsi PD	IT	22	21	20	28	21	18	23	19	16	22	210	21.0
5	EADS	DE	20	18	17	24	17	16	19	17	16	19	183	18.3
6	HayaBusa	BE	21	17	17	21	11	16	20	17	17	21	178	17.8
7	Synchronicity	US	20	16	15	23	17	13	17	15	14	19	169	16.9
8	France	FR	19	16	15	22	17	13	17	14	14	17	164	16.4
9	Endeavour	CH	16	17	14	19	16	13	19	14	14	-	142	15.8
9	Arcteryx	NO	19	14	15	21	15	13	17	15	13	-	142	15.8
11	Danez	DK	17	16	13	21	11	15	19	15	14	-	141	15.7
12	Spain	ES	19	16	15	21	15	11	16	12	14	-	139	15.4
13	Ladybirds	RU	17	15	13	20	15	12	17	13	13	18	153	15.3
14	Kewara	IT	17	15	12	21	13	13	15	13	15	17	151	15.1
15	Voodoo	ZA	15	14	14	19	15	13	14	12	-	-	116	14.5
16	VNE	UK	15	15	13	18	15	11	14	13	-	-	114	14.3
17	Australia	AU	11	15	13	18	15	13	14	13	-	-	112	14.0
18	Stratosfear	CA	15	14	12	17	13	12	16	12	-	-	111	13.9
19	R-Fource	NL	16	14	13	17	11	10	14	12	-	-	107	13.4
19	4-Matrix	AT	13	14	13	18	13	13	11	12	-	-	107	13.4
21	New Zealand	NZ	15	14	12	14	13	11	15	12	-	-	106	13.3
22	Diva	BE	16	9	12	17	13	11	14	13	10	10	125	12.5
23	Croatia	HR	16	11	12	16	13	11	9	10	-	-	98	12.3
24	Chicas	DE	14	10	10	15	12	11	14	10	10	10	116	11.6
25	Great Britain	UK	14	10	7	14	11	10	11	11	9	-	97	10.8
26	Slovenia	SI	14	11	10	12	10	9	9	10	-	-	85	10.6
27	South Africa	ZA	12	6	5	5	9	6	12	10	6	-	71	7.9
28	Spain	ES	6	7	5	10	7	3	8	7	3	-	56	6.2
29	AlfaFox	UA	6	3	2	9	6	4	7	6	6	-	49	5.4
30	Kazakhstan	KZ	5	5	0	6	4	6	5	4	-	-	35	4.4
31	Iceland	IS	2	1	1	3	1	2	4	1	-	-	15	1.9

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France in Round 10 at the FAI World Championship 2004

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The U.S. 4-way Women team Synchronicity regained the FAI gold medals in Rijeka 2004, three years after winning the inaugural title in Spain 2001 and one year after taking bronze in Gap 2003. Only Sally Hathaway from the original Synchronicity lineup (Sally Hathaway, Lilac Hayes, Eliana Rodriguez, Sally Stewart, with Tony Hathaway on camera) represented the United States at all three world championships and won two gold medals.

Eliana Rodriguez went on to win an 8-way gold medal with Arizona Airspeed in Rijeka 2004 and, four years later, a 4-way Open Class gold medal in Maubeuge 2008. She remains the only competitor to have won gold medals in all three horizontal formation skydiving events.

Synchronicity's 2004 lineup (Sally Hathaway, Jaimie Johnson, Kim Glover, Jaquelen O'Brien, with John Leming on camera) improved the best 4-way Women ranking on the combined leaderboard from 10th place in 2003 to 7th place with a 16.9 average, setting a new scoring record for the 4-way Women category. The French 4-way Women lineup of 2004 won the first medals for the French delegation and joined Synchronicity in the combined Top 10 leaderboard, finishing only five points behind the U.S. team.