LANAI CITY, Hawaii (AP) – Orlando Duque of Oahu received a perfect score on a double back-somersault with four twists on the way to capturing the Red Bull Cliff Diving world championship Saturday. Duque, 26, won $10,000 in besting 10
LANAI CITY, Hawaii (AP) – Orlando Duque of Oahu received a perfect score
on a double back-somersault with four twists on the way to capturing the Red
Bull Cliff Diving world championship Saturday.
Duque, 26, won $10,000 in
besting 10 other competitors diving 78 feet into the ocean from a platform
built atop Lanai’s Kaunolu Point.
Defending champion Dustin Webster of San
Diego placed second, and Todd Michael of Bensalem, Penn., was third.
The 11
divers qualified for the championship at competitions held in Croatia in May
and Switzerland in July. Duque, a native of Colombia, won both qualifying
events.
Although people normally associate Acapulco, Mexico, with cliff
diving, Webster said the sport originated on Lanai, where Hawaiian warriors had
to prove their courage and honor, and pass the rites of bravery.
