Gary Hunt wins the second stop of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series in La Rochelle!!!
The Englishman has made it back-to-back wins in the World Series! He's joined on the podium by fellow Brit Blake Aldridge, who's second, and Orlando Duque, who's third!
Updated standings after the head-to-head (the athletes in bold advance to the final):
Orlando Duque | COL | 352.60pts
Blake Aldridge | UK | 339.95 vs. Andy Jones | USA | 284.90
Anatoliy Shabotenko (wildcard) | UKR | 281.70 vs. Jucelino Junior | BRA | 245.10
Gary Hunt | UK | 345.50 vs. Artem Silchenko | RUS | 230.40
David Colturi | USA | 286.90 vs. Cyrille Oumedjkane (wildcard) | FRA | 257.70
Kris Kolanus (wildcard) | POL | 320.00 vs. Jonathan Paredes (Lucky Loser) | MEX | 314.95
Steven LoBue | USA | 198.40 vs. Michal Navratil | CZE | 280.40
Sorry guys, we're having internet trouble here. Too many people!!! Updates to follow as soon as possible...
It's Orlando Duque, Gary Hunt and Blake Aldridge currently occupying the podium... The seven finalists, starting with the lowest ranked, will perform one final optional dive and then a winner will be crowned!
Wow! Blake Aldridge has just performed what is now the new hardest dive in the world, a reverse double somersault, with not three, not four, but five twists for the first time in World Series competition! It carries a Degree of Difficulty of 6.3. Blake has hit it for 7.5s from the judges and is now in contention for the win!
La Rochelle, you've never looked so good!
We'll very shortly have the results of all six head-to-heads and the ranking going into the final...
The crowd have turned out in their tens of thousands... It's an awesome sight from the top of the Tour Saint-Nicolas!
Round 2 is where the big dives come out...
It's going to be a very close run thing between Kris Kolanus and Jonathan Paredes, while Steven LoBue's DD should see him edge out Michal Navratil...
Gary Hunt, Blake Aldridge and Anatoliy Shabotenko look sure of a place in the final, but former champ, and the winner here in 2013, Artem Silchenko will almost certainly miss out...
Updated scores after the first round of the head-to-head:
Orlando Duque | COL | 201.40pts
Blake Aldridge | UK | 191.90 vs. Andy Jones | USA | 157.70
Anatoliy Shabotenko (wildcard) | UKR | 188.10 vs. Jucelino Junior | BRA | 144.40
Gary Hunt | UK | 197.60 vs. Artem Silchenko | RUS | 165.30
David Colturi | USA | 169.10 vs. Cyrille Oumedjkane (wildcard) | FRA | 157.70
Kris Kolanus (wildcard) | POL | 192.50 vs. Jonathan Paredes | MEX | 190.00
Steven LoBue | USA | 176.70 vs. Michal Navratil | CZE | 172.90
Orlando 'the legend' Duque is first up on the platform! The Colombian has advanced to the final already but must complete his dives.
Gary Hunt and Artem Silchenko should be interesting! The current champion and a former champion going head-to-head!
The new head-to-heads are as follows:
1. Orlando Duque | COL | 98.80pts
2. Blake Aldridge | UK | 96.90 vs. 13. Andy Jones | USA | 60.80
3. Anatoliy Shabotenko (wildcard) | UKR | 96.90 vs. 12. Jucelino Junior | BRA | 62.70
4. Gary Hunt | UK | 95.00 vs. 11. Artem Silchenko | RUS | 70.30
5. David Colturi | USA | 95.00 vs. 10. Cyrille Oumedjkane (wildcard) | FRA | 79.80
6. Kris Kolanus (wildcard) | POL | 91.80 vs. 9. Jonathan Paredes | MEX | 87.40 .
7. Steven LoBue | USA | 91.20 vs. 8. Michal Navratil | CZE | 89.30
The action gets underway at around 4pm local time today, and we'll be bringing you updates throughout the competition!
Don't forget to vote for who you think will win in our poll...
T-shirt and shorts weather here in La Rochelle... Unprecedented! The weather's the best it's been all week... have a feeling that today is going to be a good day!
Good morning from La Rochelle!
Hello everyone and welcome to live updates from the second stop of the 2015 World Series in La Rochelle!
Head judge Claudio de Miro has confirmed the following head-to-head pairings for tomorrow. Six winners will advance to the final, and one 'lucky loser' will join them:
1. Orlando Duque (COL) - 98.80pts versus 12. Andy Jones (USA) - 60.80
2. Blake Aldridge (UK) - 96.90 versus 11. Artem Silchenko (RUS) - 70.30
3. Anatoliy Shabotenko (UKR) - 96.90 versus 10. Cyrille Oumedjkane (FRA) - 79.80
4. Gary Hunt (UK) - 95.00 versus 9. Jonathan Paredes (MEX) - 87.40
5. David Colturi (USA) - 95.00 versus 8. Michal Navratil (CZE) - 89.30
6. Kris Kolanus (POL) - 91.80 versus 7. Steven LoBue (USA) - 91.20
Today was also memorable for Ukrainian wildcard Anatoliy Shabotenko. Two years ago in La Rochelle Shabotenko was knocked unconscious after a bad landing and missed the competition. Today he attempted the same dive as two years ago, a reverse somersault in three positions, and achieved a very different result: "I wanted to do this dive again here and win the mental battle. I’ve been preparing for this, I’ve done the dive again somewhere else, and now I’ve done it here too."
Orlando Duque placed first after the first day of dives after getting 9s for a reverse flying somersault, but admitted it was a struggle: "I was pretty happy with my first dive. It’s cold, so the body’s suffering a bit. My joints are really sore, so I just wanted to get it over with and to be honest it was difficult. The body doesn’t work the same way when it’s cold compared to when it’s warm. By the time you’re on the platform you’re already cold, even if you’ve warmed up."
We've just completed the day's first training session and it'll soon be time for the Seeding Round. Weather's holding up nicely, it's the calmest we've known La Rochelle... It'll be Frenchman Cyrille Oumedjkane who's first up and there's already a big crowd gathered...
Thanks for joining us today! The final standings will be available shortly on redbullcliffdiving.com's results page...
