posted Oct 24th, 2026 - Golden Knights and NMP PCH HayaBusa had faced each other four times earlier in the year before meeting again at the FAI Outdoor World Championship 2026. Every duel had been a 4-way thriller, indoors or outdoors. However, they saved their best battle for last, which was only logical. Both teams wanted to be in peak form for the most important event in the sport.

In Eloy, the two teams went head-to-head from the moment they finished Round 8 with identical cumulative scores. In fact, they had already been tied after Round 6, moved apart in Round 7 and came back together in Round 8. They then matched each other's scores in both Rounds 9 and 10, setting up an additional round to break the tie for the silver medals.

Round 11 followed a sequence similar to those of Rounds 9 and 10, featuring two blocks and one random formation. This format increased the likelihood that both teams might once again achieve identical scores. If that happened, the FAI/ISC tie-breaking rules would have to determine the silver medalist. s the two teams boarded the aircraft for their jump-off round, the NSL News began researching the relevant rules and regulations. Formation Skydiving Chief Judge Marc Frielingsdorf was available to answer questions and explain how the tie-breaking procedures applied to this situation.

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NSL TV Unfiltered: 4-way Open Jump-Off at the FAI Outdoor World Championship 2026

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The 2026 edition of the FAI/ISC Competition Rules for Formation Skydiving defines the procedures to be followed when “two or more teams have equal scores” in the medal rankings. The tie-breaking process begins with an additional round, “if possible.” The rules specify that the “tie break round will be the next drawn round of the competition”—Round 11 in the case of a scheduled 10-round event. As expected, Golden Knights and NMP PCH HayaBusa both scored 23 points in Round 11, triggering the second step of the tie-breaking procedure: “The highest score in any completed round.”

The U.S. Army team had recorded two scores of 33 points, in Rounds 3 and 5. NMP PCH HayaBusa's highest score was 32 points, achieved in Round 3. This gave the Golden Knights the advantage under the tie-breaking rules and ultimately secured the silver medals for the U.S. team, leaving the Belgian national team in third place.

The Golden Knights would also have prevailed under the next tie-breaking criterion: “The highest score starting with the last completed round and continuing in reverse order, round by round until the tie is broken.” Had this step been necessary, the Golden Knights' score of 31 points in Round 8 would have given them the advantage.

FAI Outdoor World Championship 2026			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		11		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open Top 3		11,16,10		9,17,4		J,D,E,19		1,14,H		K,M,2,O		B,18,6		A,N,7,8		P,L,C,12		F,3,13		20,G,22		Q,15,5		Total	Avg
1	Aethers Lille	FR	18	-1	27		38	-1	23		33		25		26	-1	26	-3	27		21		-		264	26.4
2	Golden Knights	US	18	-1	25		33	-3	21		33		24		25	-2	31		26		21		23	-1	257	25.7
3	NMP PCH HayaBusa	BE	21		26		32	-3	21	-2	31	-2	23	-1	27	-2	29	-1	26		21		23	-1	257	25.7

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Golden Knights - NMP PCH HayaBusa at the FAI Outdoor World Championship 2026

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There is one further step in the tie-breaking procedure that would apply if the teams remained tied after comparing their highest scores in individual rounds. In that case, the fastest time to complete the final formation within working time would determine the winner and the medal positions. The rules state: “The fastest time (measured to hundredths of a second) to the last formation scored without infringement by both teams in the last completed round. Starting time must be that used for original evaluation of the jump.”

This was the first time in Formation Skydiving history since 1985 that the tie-breaking rules had to be examined to determine the outcome of an FAI Outdoor World Championship. It was also the first time in the 41-year history of 4-way competition at world championships that two teams tied for second place and needed an additional round to decide the silver and bronze medals.

There had been one other tie for FAI medals in 4-way Open Class competition since 1985. At the 1989 World Championships in Spain, the U.S. team from DeLand and China were tied for the bronze medals after Round 10. The U.S. team won the extra round and took the bronze medals back to Florida, China ended up in 4th place. Before Eloy 2026, the FAI/ISC tie-breaking rules had never needed to be applied to determine the final medal positions at a world championship.

FAI World Championship 1989			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	Total	Avg
1	TAG Team	FR	17	16	18	17	14	14	15	16	11	14	152	15.2
2	Russia	RU	16	11	13	14	12	12	13	15	12	14	132	13.2
3	DeLand	US	14	13	16	13	12	13	13	15	11	11	131	13.1
4	China 4-way Open	CN	15	12	14	13	12	13	12	17	10	13	131	13.1
5	Italy	IT	13	12	16	14	12	11	13	14	10	13	128	12.8
6	Australia	AU	15	13	16	14	8	13	13	16	7	12	127	12.7
7	Mobel Krugel	DE	12	13	13	14	12	11	12	15	10	11	123	12.3
8	Switzerland	CH	13	12	16	14	12	11	13	14	4	12	121	12.1
9	Belgium	BE	13	12	14	13	10	10	12	14	9	-	107	11.9
10	Austria	AT	14	10	16	13	10	11	11	12	7	-	104	11.6
11	Japan	JP	12	8	13	12	11	11	12	12	9	-	100	11.1
12	Great Britain	UK	11	9	12	10	10	10	10	11	7	-	90	10.0
13	Spain	ES	11	7	11	13	9	9	10	11	8	-	89	9.9
14	Norway	NO	11	8	12	12	9	8	9	12	7	-	88	9.8
14	Denmark	DK	11	7	11	13	8	10	10	11	7	-	88	9.8
16	Sweden	SE	9	9	11	11	7	9	10	11	-	-	77	9.6
16	Netherlands	NL	11	9	11	9	9	9	9	10	-	-	77	9.6
18	Finland	FI	10	5	8	11	8	9	9	11	-	-	71	8.9
19	Canada	CA	11	8	10	11	8	7	5	8	-	-	68	8.5
20	Czekoslovakia	CZ	10	9	10	10	5	8	7	7	-	-	66	8.3
21	Brazil	BR	8	5	10	9	8	5	5	7	-	-	57	7.1
22	Ireland	IE	6	3	5	6	4	6	5	5	-	-	40	5.0
23	Zimbabwe	ZW	5	3	1	6	5	6	4	6	-	-	36	4.5
23	Iceland	IS	4	3	2	6	3	5	6	7	-	-	36	4.5
25	Portugal	PT	3	4	3	5	5	5	4	5	-	-	34	4.3
26	Chile	CL	3	4	3	6	3	5	1	6	-	-	31	3.9
27	Poland	PL	3	2	3	3	4	4	1	4	-	-	24	3.0
28	Turkey	TR	1	1	3	4	3	2	3	4	-	-	21	2.6
28	Israel	IL	2	2	3	4	2	4	1	3	-	-	21	2.6

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