posted Aug 29th, 2026 - The NSL News reported on August 20th that participation in the FAI Outdoor World Championship 2026 appears to be at a very low level. The current situation, together with the decline in participation in recent years, is putting the 8-way, 4-way Women, and VFS events at risk of cancellation under the FAI/ISC rules and regulations for world championships and world cups.

The updated NSL Power Rankings leaderboard for the 4-way Women competition reflects this situation as clearly as the other events, including 4-way Open, even though participation in 4-way Open remains by far the strongest. The first version of the “speculative predictions” for the 4-way Women leaderboard, published on May 13th, still featured seven teams. Three of those seven 4-way Women teams also competed at the FAI Outdoor World Cup 2025—Nephtys Maubeuge, Thyra, and Funky Falcon—and will return for the competition at Skydive Arizona in October.

The XP Angels represented the United States at Skydive Teuge but will make way for the country's new 4-way Women team, Ranch TNT SDAZ. At the moment, the 4-way Women competition has reached the minimum participation level of four teams required to avoid cancellation under the current FAI/ISC rules for First Category Events (World Championships and World Cups). The United States is the only country that has never missed an outdoor world championship in 4-way Women. France has also maintained an almost uninterrupted presence, having missed only the very first event following the introduction of the discipline in 2001. Both countries will once again be represented at the upcoming outdoor world championship: France by Nephtys Maubeuge and the United States by Ranch TNT SDAZ.

FAI Outdoor World Championship 2026			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Women Power Rankings		TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	Total	Avg
1	China Hubei 1	CN	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1	Nephtys	FR	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
3	XP Angels	US	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
3	NFTO	UK	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	Thyra	NO	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	Meltemi Oceanside Illertissen	DE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
7	Funky Falcon	NL	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

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Nephtys Maubeuge - Thyra - Funky Falcon

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TNT replace the still-reigning 4-way Women world champions of XPG4 as the U.S. national team and have a major task ahead of them to successfully defend the title. The Nephtys are undoubtedly the top contenders, even though they will also compete with a different lineup in 2026, with Gaelle Giesen replacing Elise Poindron.

The Nephtys will still meet one of their 2024 opponents at Skydive Arizona, as TNT member Angie Scoggins had to withdraw due to injury. Former Chimera member Laura Hampton replaces her in the tail slot. Laura Hampton became a member of the U.S. indoor team Tunnel Vision, where her teammate, and newest Arizona Airspeed member, Michelle Karamon is serving as the alternate for Ranch TNT.

New TNT tail Laura Hampton will meet her former Chimera teammates Sarah Ashworth and James Woods in Eloy, even though they will post their scores on different leaderboards while competing with the same sequences. British 4-way Open Class team SOAR is considered one of the top contenders for the unofficial amateur world championship title that Chimera already won once at Eloy 2022. Laura Hampton and TNT will likely finish at a significantly lower scoring level in 4-way Women, while she could earn her first world championship silver medal. TNT alternate Michelle Karamon was part of the winning U.S. 4-way Women team XPG4 at Crystal Coast 2024. She is now training and competing with Arizona Airspeed in preparation for the upcoming USPA Nationals 2026 next month.

FAI Outdoor World Championship 2026			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Women Power Rankings		TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	Total	Avg
1	Nephtys	FR	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2	Ranch TNT SDAZ	US	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
3	Thyra	NO	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4	Funky Falcon	NL	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

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Chimera at the FAI Outdoor World Championship 2022

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