The 2019 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series returns to Mostar’s historic Stari Most for the penultimate stop of the season on August 24, and the stage looks set for a little bit more history to be added to this beautiful location. After a sensational and record-breaking season so far for Gary Hunt and Rhiannan Iffland, the reigning world champions already have one hand on the King Kahekili Trophy and will wrap up the title with another strong display in the spot where diving dates back centuries.
The only Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series event where competitors leap from a UNESCO World Heritage site, Mostar holds a special place in the drivers’ hearts.
Action’s centered on the 16th-century Stari Most bridge, which has a diving tradition stretching back almost 450 years.
In a city with such a strong diving heritage, everyone wants to deliver a winning effort, so expect some big performances as divers fight for every last championship point.
The Red Bull Cliff Diving World Championship, the most prestigious competition for the high diving, marks 10 years of existence this year, and five years since the Women’s Championship was introduced.
For this celebration season, seven locations were chosen that were truly “classics” for the championships, and among them is Mostar, after hosting four spectacular competitions at the Old Bridge in the past four years.
Jumpers from 12 countries will demonstrate their acrobatic skills in the USA, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Denmark, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and Italy. Men will perform at all seven, and women at five of those places.
Last year, British Gary Hunt and Mexican Adriana Jimenez are winners of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Championship that took place in Mostar last weekend. However, none of the Hunt ‘s jumps was among the top three rated jumps in the men category.
Gary Hunt had three reasons for celebration at the fourth World Championship that was held on September 7 and 8: he recorded the third tied victory this season, came to the forefront of the overall order and became the first jumper who won at the Old Bridge twice.
However, it is interesting that none of his jumps were among the top three in the competition in Mostar, and the same happened with the second-placed jumper Michal Navratil from the Czech Republic.
Instead of them, the top three rated jumpers were the Mexican Jonathan Paredes and American Steven LoBue (fourth and fifth place), while among women it was Canadian Lysanne Richard (fourth place).
