The Duke of Dubrovnik -- Orlando Duque Wins the Third Stop of the Red Bull Cliff Diving Series in Croatia

SANTA MONICA, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 07/14/09 -- With his victory in Dubrovnik this Saturday afternoon the Colombian nine-time world champion Orlando Duque takes the overall lead in the Red Bull Cliff Diving Series 2009 after three competitions. In the amphitheatre like location of Fort Lawrence more than 7,000 spectators eye-witnessed the new generation of divers to round off the podium: Englishman Gary Hunt and Russian diver Artem Silchenko finished second and third in the south Dalmatian summer.

"Before the last round I felt a lot of pressure from my opponents, since they were doing dives with a higher degree of difficulty. In the end they made some mistakes and I was more consistent. In my third dive I felt great all the way down and although the water came up quick I managed to have a vertical water entry and got a good score from the judges. I am absolutely happy," stated 34-year-old Orlando Duque. "After three stops of the Red Bull Cliff Diving Series I am getting more and more confident with the height and that's for sure a good sign for the remaining five stops!"

The new face on the sunny podium and an indication that the young generation's claim on the top positions is getting stronger every time was Artem Silchenko. The 25-year-old Russian, who recently won a cliff diving competition in Furore (ITA) ahead of eleven athletes competing in the series, was ranked fourth and fifth in the previous two competitions. "This was my first podium in the Red Bull Cliff Diving Series 2009. It is a huge honor for me to come here, because I know I am fighting with the best cliff divers of the world! With my strategy of choosing dives with a high degree of difficulty I think I will perform better."

Already well known in the top three is Gary Hunt from Southampton (GBR) who finished second and moved up three places in the overall ranking. "Before the competition started I was especially focused on improving my score in the first round and in the moment of truth I could do it. Then I knew I was in a position to challenge the lead, but unfortunately I got into to the water a little bit faster that I wanted in my third dive, so the second place is a fair result." This means that the Englishman is now runner up in the overall standings, 14 points behind Orlando Duque. The Colombian has displayed his power in Croatia and leads the rankings after three out of eight competitions. With a score of only 88.2 points for his second dive the Ukrainian iceman Andrey Ignatenko, winner of the kick-off event in France, finished in ninth place and had to leave the leadership to his contender from Colombia. He fell back to third place overall.

With 800,000 visitors a year, the picturesque city of Dubrovnik proved not only to be a touristic attraction but also the perfect location for the third stop of the Red Bull Cliff Diving Series 2009. Down by the sea and on the water an amphitheatre like setting provided just the perfect atmosphere and a little bit of shade for the 7,000 enthusiastic spectators. Those who wanted to be eye level with the divers walked up the ancient city wall opposite the island of Lokrum with Fort Lawrence and the 85 foot diving platform towering over it.

Duque added: "My thoughts are already in Italy, a place that brings good memories to my mind -- memories of winning!" With the leader already focusing on the next stop on July 26, more Adriatic enthusiasm can be expected in two weeks time when the series will be hosted in Polignano a Mare for the half time stop.

Result Red Bull Cliff Diving Series 2009, Dubrovnik (CRO)

1. Orlando Duque COL 348.60 7. Slava Polyeshchuk UKR 287.50 2. Gary Hunt GBR 334.10 8. Cyrille Oumedjkane FRA 283.20 3. Artem Silchenko RUS 330.70 9. Andrey Ignatenko UKR 276.80 4. Kent de Mond USA 294.75 10. Michal Navratil CZE 265.45 5. Steve Black AUS 292.15 11. Eber Pava COL 253.95 6. Hassan Mouti FRA 291.90 12. Alain Kohl LUX 249.15

Official website: www.redbullcliffdiving.com

Red Bull Cliff Diving Series. The world's best divers, eight challenging competitions and 85 feet between takeoff, athletic perfection and dive. In its first year, famous and well-known diving spots as well as extraordinary natural and challenging urban venues have been selected. Having started on the 8th of May in France (La Rochelle), the series crossed the Netherlands (Rotterdam/June 20th) and Croatia (Dubrovnik/July 11th), and will come to Italy (Polignano a Mare/July 26th), Turkey (Antalya/August 8th), Germany (Hamburg/August 29th) and Switzerland (Sisikon/September 5th) before reaching Greece (Athens) for the finals on the 20th of September. Red Bull Cliff Diving events are judged by five international jurors with scores awarded according to the degree of difficulty and execution of the dive.

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