Five FAI World Championships wrapped up in Eloy after a week of close competition and challenging weather. Here’s how the results unfolded.
World titles were decided across five disciplines at Skydive Arizona as 256 competitors from 29 nations gathered in Eloy for the FAI World Championships, held October 18–24, 2026.
France won four gold medals across Formation Skydiving and Artistic Events, while American Curt Bartholomew collected four individual world titles across Canopy Piloting and Canopy Piloting Freestyle. In Speed Skydiving, closely contested podiums came alongside 18 new FAI record claims, all pending ratification.
Despite challenging weather conditions, the full competition program was completed and every chance to fly was flown.
Artistic Events: France Takes Both Titles
France won both the Freefly and Freestyle world titles at the 16th FAI World Artistic Events Championships. The Freefly title came down to just 0.3 points, with France finishing ahead of Kyrgyzstan. Germany took bronze.
France also led the Freestyle results, finishing ahead of Poland, with a second French entry completing the podium.
Canopy Piloting: Bartholomew Defends Overall Gold
At the 11th FAI World Canopy Piloting Championships, Curt Bartholomew (USA) successfully defended his overall world title, finishing ahead of Cornelia Mihai (UAE) and George Sheather (AUS).
Bartholomew also claimed the Accuracy and Speed world titles. France’s Cédric Veiga Rios won the Distance title, while Italy secured gold in the national team competition.
Photo courtesy of FAI / Marcus King
Canopy Piloting Freestyle: Another Title for Bartholomew
Bartholomew added a fourth individual world title at the 5th FAI World Canopy Piloting Freestyle Championships.
He finished ahead of Mario Fattoruso (ITA), who took silver, and Jeannie Bartholomew (USA), who claimed bronze. The USA also won the national team competition, followed by Italy and Australia.
The championships marked the launch of FAI’s campaign toward The World Games 2029 in Karlsruhe, Germany, where Canopy Piloting will be featured on the sports program.
Formation Skydiving: France Wins Two, USA Takes 8-Way
France claimed the 4-Way Open and 4-Way Female world titles at the 27th FAI World Formation Skydiving Championships, while the USA won 8-Way Open. With France securing 4-Way Open gold, the battle for silver between the USA and Belgium produced one of the week’s most dramatic finishes.
The two teams went into a tie-break round and finished level again. Final positions were then determined according to the competition rules, with the USA taking silver and Belgium bronze.
In 4-Way Female, France finished ahead of the USA and Norway. The USA led the 8-Way Open podium, followed by Qatar and Germany.
Speed Skydiving: Close Finishes and Record Claims
The 6th FAI World Speed Skydiving Championships produced tight contests for the world titles and 18 new FAI record claims. Sebastián García Gutiérrez (ESP) claimed the Open world title, finishing less than 2 km/h ahead of defending champion Niklas Daniel (USA). Simon Walsh (AUS) took bronze.
Natisha Dingle (AUS) retained the Female title and became the first woman to achieve an overall competition average above 500 km/h. Tanita Rutherford (AUS) finished second, with Ingrid van Deelen (NED) third. Thorsten Morhaus (GER) became the first Masters world champion, ahead of Robert Pelka (GER) and Daniel Hagström (SWE).
Australia won the Mixed Team title, while the USA took National Team gold. Eleven competitors averaged over 500 km/h during the competition, up from just four in 2024.
Speeds exceeded 510 km/h for women and 560 km/h for men. The resulting claims comprise 14 competition records and four performance records, all pending FAI ratification.
The performances reflect advances in technique in the relatively young discipline, alongside favorable hot, dry conditions in Arizona, where lower air density helps reduce drag.
Full Competition Program Successful
Completing all five championships meant the event organizers, team and volunteers worked around challenging conditions throughout the week.
Eloy finished the week with every event completed, world titles awarded across all five championships, and 18 Speed Skydiving record claims awaiting ratification.
