A look at the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series:
ORIGINS: Cliff diving as a sport is believed to have originated in the 1700s when Hawaiian chief King Kahekili first jumped from the holy cliffs of Kaunolo
SERIES HISTORY: The Red Bull men's competition started in 2009 and the women's in 2014. The series winners earn the King Kahekili trophy.
SEASON STOPS: The 2023 season features stops in Boston, Paris, Polignano A Mare (Italy), Takachiho (Japan), Mostar, (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Auckland. The final New Zealand stop, originally set for Nov. 19 (New Zealand time), was rescheduled to Jan. 28 due to "significant water quality concern" in Waitemata Harbour.
COMPETITORS: There are eight permanent divers taking part in each event, with four wild cards invited to each stop, making up a field of 12 men and 12 women.
HEIGHT: The men dive from an average platform height of 27 metres compared to 21 metres for the women.
ROUNDS: Each competitor makes four dives, all of which count. Fives judges score the takeoff, air position and water entry, giving a mark of zero to 10. The lowest and highest scores are thrown out, with the remaining three multiplies by the dive's degree of difficulty for the final score. The best dive of the competition gets a 10-point bonus.
STARS: Australian Rhiannan Iffland has won the last six women's titles (2016-19 and 2021-22, 2020 was cancelled due to the pandemic). British-born French diver Gary Hunt has won 10 of the last 12 men's crowns.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 24, 2024
The Canadian Press
