Spectacular jumps from the rocks of the Azores | Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series 2019 – San Miguel, Azores (POR)

Spectacular jumps from the rocks of the Azores | Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series 2019 – San Miguel, Azores (POR)

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Published 24 June 2019

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England's Gary Hunt and Rhiannan Iffland of Australia increased their stranglehold at the top of the 2019 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series with yet another victory each in the pure Portuguese Azores. For Iffland, it was a record breaking fourth win in a row rthis season, while Hunt had to be at his imperious best to see off the marauding challenge of Mexico's Jonathan Paredes, who himself broke a long standing record by earning six 10 scorecards across the weekend. The World Series was also making a record eighth stop at the volcanic mid-Atlantic location, which awaited the cliff diving elite with demanding conditions.
Iffland, who had begun the week with a 10 in her very first dive from 21m, continued her unstoppable form despite the disruptions caused by bad weather at the fourth stop of the season. Just like three weeks ago in Polignano a Mare, the Australian dominated from start to finish, winning by an impressive 22 point margin from England's Jessica Macaulay in second place, her first podium as a permanent diver, and Canada's Lysanne Richard in third.
For Hunt, this was not the easy ride he had recently in Italy when winning by a massive 50 point margin. Instead, he was pushed to his limits by the sensational performance of 2017 champion Paredes, who began and ended the competition with three 10s, surpassing the Brit's combined record of five times the highest note from the jury at a single stop. That Hunt held his nerve to execute a magnificent final dive of his own speaks volumes about the unshakeable 7-time champion, and although the Mexican is glad to enter the second half of the season with such a strong performance, he will be wondering just what he has to do to earn a victory ahead of his great rival. Just three points separated them at the end, with the resurgent American Andy Jones finishing third to earn his second podium in a row.

Results:
Men
1 Gary Hunt GBR – 420.60 pts
2 Jonathan Paredes MEX – 417.50
3 Andy Jones USA – 375.45
4 Michal Navratil CZE – 362.45
5 Oleksiy Prygorov UKR – 365.55

Women
1 Rhiannan Iffland AUS – 326.80 pts
2 Jessica Macaulay GBR – 304.70
3 Lysanne Richard CAN – 298.30
4 Eleanor Townsend Smart USA – 287.95
5 Adriana Jimenez MEX – 279.65

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