posted Aug 16th, 2026 - The progression of 4-way Women performances at outdoor world championships continued at Maubeuge 2008, even though participation began to decline. Eight 4-way Women teams competed at the event in France, and the top three all made the Top 10 on the combined leaderboard.

No 4-way Women team made the Top 10 when the event was introduced in Spain 2001. V-Max finished 10th in Gap 2003, while two teams made the Top 10 in both Rijeka 2004 and Gera 2006.

The 2008 outdoor world championship became the first where three 4-way Women teams made the Top 10, while British team Bodyflight Storm won the next set of 4-way Women gold medals for the British delegation. The U.S. and British delegations had taken turns adding sets of FAI gold medals to their respective countries between 2002 and 2008, and the British delegation was now one set of gold medals ahead of the United States. The three 4-way Women teams in the Top 10 in 2008 were closely grouped on the combined leaderboard, while the other teams in this category also finished close together in the middle of the 4-way Open Class field.

FAI World Meet 2008			1	2	3	4	5	6	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Women		B,17,7	H,N,13,A	10,J,C,6	18,12,2	E,3,9	19,O,4	Total	Avg
1	Bodyflight Storm	UK	24	26	17	15	21	17	120	20.0
2	Fastrax Blue	US	24	23	19	13	21	19	119	19.8
3	Aerokart Deep Blue	FR	23	23	19	14	20	16	115	19.2
4	Fortitudo	NO	22	16	16	13	17	13	97	16.2
4	Australia	AU	19	20	15	11	17	15	97	16.2
6	Chicas	DE	19	16	15	12	18	16	96	16.0
7	Belgium	BE	10	14	12	9	16	-	61	12.2
8	Empuria Gatas	ES	7	11	10	8	12	-	48	9.6

The combined leaderboard shows scores for only eight rounds, as the weather situation in Maubeuge was critical. A storm with tornadoes had just passed the day before the competition began, while the weather system remained anything but supportive throughout the week of the world championship.

Meet Director Patrice Girardin tried everything to complete the scheduled ten competition rounds, including reducing the time between jumps, but even those measures could not overcome the weather. Eventually, all 4-way Open Class teams completed only six rounds, while the 4-way Women teams completed only five, before the respective semifinals (Round 6/7) and finals (Rounds 7/8) brought the competition to an early conclusion.

The three 4-way Women medalists were separated by only five points after Round 6, and four additional rounds could have changed the outcome significantly. In 4-way Open, ten teams advanced to the semifinals in Round 7 after the first cut, with six teams then competing for the final medal positions in Round 8.

Arizona Airspeed’s Odyssey lineup held a four-point lead over the French home team after Round 7. They knew they had only one more round to secure the gold medals, as the competition would end after Round 8. France won the final round by three points in a dramatic finish, but Airspeed Odyssey carried its one-point lead across the finish line.

FAI Outdoor World Championship 2008			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open/Women Combined		B,17,7	H,N,13,A	10,J,C,6	18,12,2	E,3,9	19,O,4	D,M,5,16	14,20,21	Total	Avg
1	Airspeed Odyssey	US	30	32	24	16	29	21	28	15	195	24.4
2	Maubeuge	FR	28	30	23	17	27	23	28	18	194	24.3
3	HayaBusa Defence	BE	27	33	23	17	27	22	25	17	191	23.9
4	Sky Panthers Barkli	RU	28	30	22	16	28	20	27	17	188	23.5
5	Arcteryx	NO	27	29	21	17	25	21	26	14	180	22.5
6	Evolution	CA	25	27	22	17	24	18	26	16	175	21.9
7	Bodyflight Storm	UK	24	26	17	15	21	17	-	-	120	20.0
8	Fastrax Blue	US	24	23	19	13	21	19	-	-	119	19.8
9	Aerokart Deep Blue	FR	23	23	19	14	20	16	-	-	115	19.2
10	Spin Team	IT	23	21	16	13	21	16	21	-	131	18.7
11	Dynamic Fource	NL	22	20	16	12	21	16	22	-	129	18.4
12	VIVA	CH	19	23	17	13	21	15	18	-	126	18.0
13	FSC Eisenach	DE	21	17	14	13	21	15	21	-	122	17.4
14	Airtite	AU	15	21	16	11	19	16	-	-	98	16.3
15	Fortitudo	NO	22	16	16	13	17	13	-	-	97	16.2
15	Australia	AU	19	20	15	11	17	15	-	-	97	16.2
17	Chicas	DE	19	16	15	12	18	16	-	-	96	16.0
18	Magic 4	LT	19	19	13	13	16	15	-	-	95	15.8
18	Danish Blaze	DK	18	20	14	11	16	16	-	-	95	15.8
20	Voodoo	ZA	17	18	15	11	19	14	-	-	94	15.7
21	Evolution	SE	16	18	14	10	16	16	-	-	90	15.0
22	Tigers	FI	19	19	14	10	16	9	-	-	87	14.5
22	Monkey Circus	AT	14	19	15	12	16	11	-	-	87	14.5
24	CTR Optimum	BR	15	14	11	10	17	14	-	-	81	13.5
25	Fusion	UK	15	17	14	8	16	6	-	-	76	12.7
26	Belgium	BE	10	14	12	9	16	-	-	-	61	12.2
27	Empuria Gatas	ES	7	11	10	8	12	-	-	-	48	9.6
28	China	CN	7	9	8	5	9	8	-	-	46	7.7
29	Cyprus	CY	6	5	4	5	5	6	-	-	31	5.2
30	Turkey	TR	5	6	6	2	6	4	-	-	29	4.8
31	Slovakia	SK	9	4	4	0	4	3	-	-	24	4.0

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Airspeed Odyssey at the FAI Outdoor World Championship 2008

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The outdoor world championship in Maubeuge 2008 was the event where Eliana Rodriguez completed her unique achievement by winning her third FAI gold medal in three different events. She won 4-way Women with Synchronicity at Spain 2001, moved to Arizona and won her next FAI gold medal with Airspeed’s 8-way team at Rijeka 2004, and finally won 4-way Open Class gold in Maubeuge 2008.

She did not become the first female 4-way competitor to have her name engraved on the William H. Ottley Sword for the FAI 4-way Open Class world champions, often referred to as the “4-way Excalibur,” as Natasha Montgomery had already earned that distinction at Gera 2006. However, Eliana Rodriguez further confirmed that female 4-way competitors could win the 4-way Open Class event.

She won the 4-way Open Class gold medal in 2008 with a 24.4 average after eight completed rounds, three more rounds than Natasha Montgomery had performed with DeLand Fire in 2006. Airspeed Odyssey finished 32 points ahead of the 4-way Women winners after the six rounds completed by both teams.