Despite difficult weather conditions, Spain's Carlos Gimeno and Australian record holder Rhiannan Iffland fought their way to the top at the second stop of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series 2025 in Polignano a Mare. In front of 35,000 enthusiastic spectators, both athletes impressively beat off the competition.
This was only Carlos Gimeno's second victory in the World Series after his triumph in Mostar in 2023. Although the 30-year-old started the competition cautiously at first, he improved over the course of the rounds and ultimately came out on top with a 38-point lead over Frenchman Gary Hunt. Third place went to the Mexican Jonathan Paredes.
Gimeno presented himself particularly spectacularly with two challenging armstand jumps. In the second round, he performed an armstand back 2½ somersault crouched, which he executed directly from a private balcony. He received two scores of 9.0 and one score of 9.5 from the judges for this. In the final round, he managed an armstand back 4½ somersault crouched, which again earned him high scores and secured him the victory. He also received a bonus point for the best jump of the weekend for his jump in the second round. In the overall standings, Gimeno is now tied on points with Paredes in second place, seven points behind Hunt. The 41-year-old is working on a remarkable comeback and had finished on the podium in each of the first two events of the shortened season.
In the women's event, Rhiannan Iffland once again showed her dominance and secured her 43rd victory in the 53rd competition from the 21-meter platform. After her Canadian rival Molly Carlson was unable to compete due to injury, compatriot Simone Leathead took up the challenge of beating the Australian. Leathead impressed particularly in the second round with a forward vault with two somersaults and a half twist in a squat position, for which she received 8.5 points. Nevertheless, in the end she was eight points short of Iffland's ninth victory in a row.
Iffland was relieved after her success, even though the conditions had been anything but easy. She emphasized that the mental challenges become greater in every competition, but that she is motivated by the joy of her sport and the extraordinary venues.
The American wild card participant Lisa Faulkner caused a sensation, becoming the oldest debutant in history to make the podium at the age of 37. After a cautious start, she impressed in the third round with an armstand back 2½ somersault with two twists in an extended position, for which she received a score of 8.0. This put her in third place.
Elisa Cosetti from Italy caused a sensation in front of her home crowd with a fourth place. Her compatriot and partner Andrea Barnaba, who also took fourth place in the men's event, did the same.
Iffland leads the women's overall standings at the halfway point of the season with a comfortable 17-point lead over Leathead. She is followed by the US American Kaylea Arnett, a further point behind. The athletes now have a ten-week break before continuing in Mostar (Bosnia and Herzegovina) on September 6. There, the best cliff divers in the world will once again show off their spectacular jumps at the famous Stari Most.
