The Boston Celtics, the Boston Red Sox, the Boston Bruins and the New England Patriots – this city has it all. America’s major sports are all represented by four highly successful teams. This weekend a new sport will touch down in the capital of Massachusetts. The world’s most prestigious series of cliff diving competitions comes to town as the athletes of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series climb to the top of the 85-foot-high Institute of Contemporary Art building on Fan Pier to put on an exhibition of their own. The vibe at Boston Harbour inspired the 14-strong-field of participants during the first training session.
“You can feel the intensity of the sports at every corner. Visiting the Patriots’ home field was just a one-of-a-kind experience for me,” says Hassan Mouti. The Frenchman, from Strasbourg, is still regaining his confidence after a training crash in Athens and a short visit to the “Pats”, and playing ball with American rookie diver Steven LoBue, can only have helped. 26-year-old LoBue, meanwhile, is proud to be able to showcase his sport in his home country and is sure that “Boston is ready for cliff diving. I’ll do my best to score a touchdown for them.”
For the first time ever a stop in the World Series will take place in a major urban venue outside Europe. An urban building will be the take-off board, and Boston Harbour the entry point for the chosen 14 – wildcard divers Andy Jones and Kyle Mitrione, from the US, and the impressive Mexican, Jonathan Paredes, will complete the field of participants in Boston. The platform, built on top of the ICA building, beckons individual expression and creation by way of complex diving manoeuvres. Founded in 1936, the ICA’s mission is to exhibit contemporary art. Count on the divers to deliver unforgettable impressions.
Impressive for the spectators and assessed objectively by five judges; among whom will be four-time Olympic gold medallist Greg Louganis. The American diving legend joins head judge Claudio de Miro, José Antonio Martinez, Jeff Arbon and Sara Massenz.
After the season’s closest competition in Italy and four divers scoring more than 400 points, competition is fierce and the penultimate and potentially decisive stop might once again shake up the rankings: After five out of seven stops it means only seven points divide positions two to four in the overall standings, with position five tied between the Colombian Duque and Frenchman Cyrille Oumedjkane. Alain Kohl from Luxembourg follows in seventh, only six points behind the top six.
Don’t miss the action starting at 4.00pm local time on Saturday, August 20.
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