Artem Silchenko opened the competition, picked up exactly where he left off in France after racing into the lead during the first round and with an almost perfect execution of his blind-entry dive he took the highest score for a single dive as well as his second successive win in Denmark. On Saturday afternoon, 27,000 spectators witnessed the cliff diving masterclass from the 28m-stage atop the Copenhagen Opera House in a spine-tingling competition. Never before in a World Series competition have the judges awarded four tens for a single dive; the total competition score of 522.40 points is a record high as well. Champion Gary Hunt threw himself into second position and Orlando Duque came home in third.
Artem Silchenko’s outstanding performance left the huge crowd of people that had gathered below, around and opposite the opera speechless. The Russian had just nailed his back armstand with two and a half somersaults and two and a half twists for 10s from the judges. The dive has a Degree of Difficulty of 6.1 and, with its blind entry, it’s one of the most exhilarating and jaw-dropping manoeuvres. The view across the water through royal Amalienborg, from which spectators were spotted, impressed the cliff diving elite just as much as the dizzying height of 28m. Leaving this high stage and diving for three seconds into a sea of 27,000 enthusiastic spectators below, made the first-ever stop on Danish ground a big success.