posted Sep 24th, 2026 - The 4-way competition at the USPA Nationals 2026 actually included more than just two AAA Class categories using the same competition draw. The NSL News covered the 4-way Open and 4-way Women events yesterday, with a single 4-way Open Class leaderboard covering both categories. FAI/ISC and a few national skydiving federations, however, separate the teams into two different leaderboards at world championships, world cups, and some national championships.

Teams with all-female lineups have the option of competing in the 4-way Open Class at world championships and world cups, and they can usually be found on the 4-way AAA/Open Class leaderboards at national championships. All-male lineups and mixed-gender teams, on the other hand, have only the 4-way Open Class option.

The formula is reversed at the USPA Nationals, where 4-way teams can also register for the 4-way Advanced Class competition. This category has its own leaderboard and awards its own set of USPA medals, while using the same competition draw as the 4-way Open Class and 4-way Women teams competing on the 4-way Open Class leaderboard. The combined AAA Class leaderboard published by the NSL News shows all teams that performed the same ten sequences.

USPA Nationals 2026		1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open/Advanced Combined	A,9,B,D		5,C,L,15		F,7,8		E,H,13,N		16,P,M,20		Q,G,11,21		4,12,17		22,O,2		19,6,J		18,1,K		Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	47		25	-2	26		31	-1	26	-1	18		20	-1	20		23		18	-2	254	25.4
2	Golden Knights	38	-4	27	-1	25		30	-2	27	-1	19	-4	20		21		25	-1	19	-2	251	25.1
3	SDC Rhythm XP	31	-4	19	-3	20	-2	24	-3	21		17	-3	16	-1	19		20	-1	17	-1	204	20.4
4	Elsinore Elevate	35		19		21		22	-2	18		17	-1	15		16		16	-2	15	-1	194	19.4
5	Hammertime 2.0	27	-1	19		19		21	-2	19		16	-2	13	-1	16		17		14	-3	181	18.1
6	Four Warned XP	26	-4	15	-1	20	-1	21	-2	18	-1	16	-1	12	-3	16		18		13	-2	175	17.5
7	Ranch TNT SDAZ	28	-2	16	-1	19		21		17		13	-2	12		15		15	-1	14		170	17.0
G	Qatar Vortex	25		17		16		23		17		14		12		12		15		15		166	16.6
8	Air Force Riptide	27		15		16		17		15		14		12		15		16		13		160	16.0
9	Redline XP	24	-1	16		17		17		17		15	-1	11	-2	11	-1	16	-1	13		157	15.7
10	SDC Rhedux	24	-1	14		16	-2	16	-3	15	-1	14	-2	10		14		15	-1	13		151	15.1
10	Air Force Barnyard	28		16		14		19		16		11		11		11		15		10		151	15.1
12	Girls Will Be Girls	24	-1	13		15	-3	17	-1	14		14	-1	13		14		13	-2	13		150	15.0
13	CSC Constellation XP	21		11		16		18		13		13		10		12		13		11		138	13.8
13	Adorable AF	20	-2	14		15	-1	19		11		13		11		11	-2	14		10	-3	138	13.8
15	SDD Intravenous XP	21		14		15		16		12		13		9		11		14		11		136	13.6
15	SDC QuadRhivium	22		12		13		17		13		11		11		11		15		11		136	13.6
17	Chicken Bolts	16	-5	13	-2	15	-2	12	-4	12		13	-2	13	-1	12		10	-5	13	-1	129	12.9
18	Mercenaries	21		12		13	-2	17		12	-1	14		9	-1	11		9	-4	10	-1	128	12.8
19	Platinum XP	21		12		14		15		13		10		9		10		13		8		125	12.5
20	Air Raid XP	21		10	-1	15	-2	10	-8	13	-1	14		7	-4	11		13	-1	10	-3	124	12.4
21	Perris Livin'	13		8		13		13		11		10		9		9		11		10		107	10.7
21	Perris Airflow	16		11		10		14		10		11		9		8		11		7		107	10.7
23	Introversion	7		13		14		15		11		7		7		12		14		6		106	10.6
24	AerOGiRhls	12		8	-1	11	-1	14		9		8	-1	7		10		8		8	-1	95	9.5
25	SDMW Pause	11		8		10		13		5		7		7		9		10		8		88	8.8
26	Perris 3 D & Dan	13		9	-1	11	-1	5	-3	8		8		8	-1	8	-1	8	-1	8		86	8.6
27	Proudly Perris	10		8		11		9		9		9		3		9		9		7		84	8.4
28	Tequila Brothers 4	13		9		10		12		9		7		8		5		6		4		83	8.3

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Grey = 4-way Open, Yellow = 4-way Advanced, Magenta = 4-way Women

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Qatar Vortex - CSC Constellation at the USPA Nationals 2026

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The top two 4-way Women teams on the 4-way Open Class leaderboard, Four Warned XP and Ranch TNT SDAZ, would have won the 4-way Advanced Class medals for the first two places. They even outscored guest team Vortex from Qatar, which will represent its country next month at the FAI Outdoor World Championship 2026.

Qatar Vortex and Ranch TNT SDAZ did not share the same leaderboard at the USPA Nationals, and they will once again be separated at the FAI Outdoor World Championship. Qatar Vortex and their coach Andy Grauwels decided to use the 4-way Advanced Class as their final competition test, where they would face weaker teams than in the 4-way Open Class.

However, the same two teams, Ranch TNT SDAZ and Qatar Vortex, will be separated again in Eloy next month, where the U.S. team will compete in the smallest competition of the event. Only four teams are registered in the 4-way Women category, and TNT appears to be guaranteed at least one set of medals behind the French team Nephtys Maubeuge.

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Air Force Riptide - Air Force Barnyard at the USPA Nationals 2026

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Qatar used to be a medal contender in 4-way Open at FAI World Championships and FAI World Cups during the years when the Tigers regularly represented the country. The Tigers won bronze medals for Qatar at Eloy 2022 as well as at Crystal Coast 2024.

Coach Andy Grauwels has been working to rebuild a 4-way national team for the Qatar delegation, and Vortex will be the first team to compete at an FAI Outdoor World Championship. There, they will meet the Golden Knights on the 4-way Open Class leaderboard, a team they had probably only been following indirectly on the leaderboard, together with Andy Grauwels.

Together, they decided to put Vortex into direct competition with the Air Force teams, which are in a similar situation regarding their sponsorship from the state and military forces. The Air Force teams are also working with coach Niklas Hemlin, who used to be a direct opponent of Andy Grauwels when they competed for NMP PCH HayaBusa (BE) and Arizona Airspeed (US). Andy Grauwels won the coaching competition in Perris, where Vortex took first place on the 4-way Advanced Class leaderboard as a guest team.

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