The Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series enters its 12th season and kicks off again after a break of 21 months with six exciting locations and an equalized athletes’ roster. 12 men and 12 women launch themselves from heights of 27m and 21m, nearly three times the height of the Olympic platform.
For the restart the Series returns for the 8th time to France where it all began in 2009, but to a brand-new location on the famous Côte d’Azur in an all-natural setting on the French Riviera. Cap Dramont, just outside the village of Saint-Raphaël, is a nature preserve that allows the athletes to take-off from the plain red colored rocks during their required dive round before they return to the platforms for the remaining three dives.
The Men´s sees a thrilling competition for the podium. Former olympic diver Constantin Popovici from Romania is up on the 27 meter plattform. He is one of the favorites contenders for the 2021 World Series title. Popovici is in third place after three rounds. He shows off in the last decisive round with an Inward 4 Somersaults 1/2 Twist with a DD of 4.7. A solid execution lets him claim third place – a very good start into the new season after a long break.
Last diver to come and the big surprise of the day is Catalin Preda, who starts a wildcard diver into this first stop of the season. The Romanian is sitting already in first place entering the final round. He decides to show off with an Back 4 Somersaults 2 Twists with a DD of 5.1. A perfectly execution brings him 446.70 points in total. This is Catalin Preda’s first victory of his career and he is just the second wildcard diver ever to achieve a World Series win.
Following the flashy red cliffs on the famous Côte d’Azur, the World Series travels to its northern most venue in 2021. The Norwegian capital city Oslo plays host the very first time on its world-famous opera house in August.