Steven LoBue and Rhiannan Iffland were crowned the high diving world champions at the weekend after grabbing gold at the 2017 FINA World Championships in Budapest.
American LoBue claimed victory when his well-executed final dive, an inward 5 somersaults 1/2 twist, was followed by an over rotation by Brit Gary Hunt, who had led until the final round, in his final dive. Michal Navratil of the Czech Republic took silver whilst Italy's Alessandro De Rose followed up his World Series win in Polignano a Mare last week with a bronze medal.
"It's a surreal moment," said LoBue. "Hundreds of hours of your life come together in three seconds. I couldn't be happier. It was hard to watch Gary failing, but at the same time it worked in my favour."
Iffland continued her sensational season, in which she holds a comfortable lead in the World Series, by adding a first-ever high diving gold medal to her growing list of accolades. The 25-year-old Australian once again displayed amazing consistency, with not one judge awarding her less than 8.0 in any of her four dives across two days of competition. Mexico's Adriana Jimenez, also enjoying a successful season so far following her maiden World Series win in the Portuguese Azores, finished second to take silver, while Yana Nestsiarava of Belarus claimed bronze.
"It was definitively an amazing couple of days," said Iffland. "The venue is great, and the view from the top of the platform is outstanding. We have the best view of all aquatic sports!"
