It started early this week with a dive in front of the Statue of Liberty in New York and ended with Orlando Duque (COL) claiming a long-awaited victory in the US-leg of the World Series, leaving his closest competitors for the overall ranking, Artem Silchenko (RUS) and Gary Hunt (UK), in second and third. Plunging from the 27.5-metre platform atop the cantilever roof of the Institute of Contemporary Art building on Boston’s Fan Pier, the thirteen cliff divers showcased dives of near-perfection in front of more than 25,000 spectators on land and water this Sunday afternoon.
Orlando Duque takes first season win during fifth stop of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series 2013. After the highest scoring required rounds ever in a World Series competition — two 10s for Artem Silchenko’s new flying inward one somersault pike, one 10 for the later winner and no score from the judges lower than a 7 — the result allowed Orlando Duque (690pts) to close the gap on World Series champion Gary Hunt (780pts) and Silchenko (700pts) in the fight for the overall crown.