Gary Hunt set the seal on his fourth Red Bull World Cliff Diving title in style with victory in the final stop off, held in Mexico.
The 30-year-old Southampton-born thrill seeker wrapped up the 2014 series title last month with one event left but wanted to celebrate a “wicked” year with his fourth victory of the campaign.
He did just that.
With exactly 500 points, he beat the 2013 champion Artem Silchenko into second, and the USA’s David Colturi into third.
The final stop, hosted on Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, saw the competitors diving into the crystal-clear waters of the sinkhole in the Mexican jungle during a total of four rounds of competition.
Hunt’s superb execution of his famed triple quad dive, with a degree of difficulty of 6.2, in the final saw the judges produce nines and the Englishman secure a grand total of 500 points.
With two tens from the judges for the intimidating flying inward dive, Russia’s Artem Silchenko (451.60pts) set the course for another podium finish after his victory at the previous stop in Spain. David Colturi (451.30) performed strongly in the second part of the season to finish the year with a third place.
Delighted to finish in style, Hunt, who previously won the title from 2010-12 inclusive, said: “The plan worked perfectly! I really wanted to win here after twice winning the world series and not being on top of the podium at the final event.
“I wanted it so much and on the platform I really felt the nerves, and so I’m over the moon that I got it.”
Revealing the extra motivation losing the title in 2013 gave him, Hunt added: “I wouldn’t be the diver that I am today if I had not suffered that disappointment.”
Former Southampton Diving Academy member Blake Aldridge finished 12th in Mexico to come eighth overall in the series.
Results, stop seven, Yucatán: 1 Gary Hunt (UK) 500pts, 2 Artem Silchenko (RUS) 451.60, 3 David Colturi (USA) 451.30, 4 Michal Navratil (CZE) 442.25, 5 Andy Jones (USA) 435.00, 6 Orlando Duque (COL) 426.10.
Final overall standings: 1 Gary Hunt (UK) 1,110pts, 2 Artem Silchenko (RUS) 840, 3 Steven LoBue (USA) 680, 4 Orlando Duque (COL) 660, 5 David Colturi (USA) 610, 6 Jonathan Paredes (MEX) 590, 7 Michal Navratil (CZE) 570, 8 Blake Aldridge (UK) 560, 9 Andy Jones (USA) 350, 10 Kris Kolanus (POL) 349.
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