Lots of sports make you go wow, but cliff diving makes you go wow more than most. All you need is a pair of trunks, there are really few excuses for not trying it. The circular-shaped Vila Franca do Campo islet offshore from São Miguel in the Azores made the perfect backdrop for the third stop of the current World Series season. Despite rough conditions throughout the entire week, the previous seasons’ dominant figurehead from the UK took over from Russia’s Artem Silchenko in Portugal to top the overall standings with a well fought win. Hunt won ahead of a reinvigorated Orlando Duque from Colombia, and the 23-year-old rookie Jonathan Paredes of Mexico took his first podium in front of 1,300 spectators.
Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series 2013 Azores: Artem Slichenko
It was Gary Hunt, the ‘brilliant Brit’ of the World Series, who decided the third stop – the second within seven days – would be his early this Saturday morning, cutting in on Artem Silchenko’s back-to-back wins. However, it was the youngest in the field of the ten permanent athletes who gave more than just a glimpse of his great talent with a third place finish. Mexico’s Jonathan Paredes won the qualification competition in Australia in February, made it into the top six in his first World Series competition in France and missed the Danish podium by only 1.9 points last weekend. The 23-year-old was on target for a top result from the first dive onward in his third World Series appearance and put two-times winner Silchenko off the podium in Portugal.
None of the athletes could set foot on the nature reserve where the 27m-platform had been mounted before Friday’s first round of competition due to rough sea conditions. With only one training dive, competition started early in the morning with the off-the-rock round and the first head-to-head battles. Early bird divers climbed up the crater walls to show their skills during three-second flights into the choppy waters before breakfast time. Enthusiastic spectators packed into boats in front of the platform and paid respect to the cliff diving performances in the World Series’ 30th stop since its introduction in May 2009.
Misjudging the distance to the water in his last 85kph-dive and landing a bit short of vertical, Artem Silchenko (510pts) not only lost a podium finish today, but also the overall lead to Gary Hunt (520pts). Colombia’s Orlando Duque (400 pts), at 38 the oldest athlete in the Series, assures his third overall position and keeps a 90-points margin to fourth placed Paredes. After three out of the total eight stops for 2013, the competition is exciting and wide open.
The cliff diving elite returns to Lake Garda in Italy in two weeks’ time.
Pure cliff diving directly off the cliff face, the reigning champion on top of the rankings and the youngest athlete on the podium –
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