Southampton’s Gary Hunt retains his position atop the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series leaderboard after finishing third in the latest round, in Boston.

The 29-year-old finished behind the winner, Colombia’s Orlando Duque, and Russia’s Artem Silchenko, who both closed the gap on him in the overall standings.

But Hunt still holds a decent lead over the pair, with his 780 points playing Silchenko’s 700 and Duque’s 690, as the Brit chases a fourth consecutive Red Bull title.

“It’s another consistent result,” he said. “My first dive I was happy with and my difficult dives were good but missed that something special to take the win.”

Daily Echo:

Plunging from the 27.5-metre platform atop the cantilever roof of the Institute of Contemporary Art building on Boston’s Fan Pier, the 13 cliff divers put on a spectacular display in front of more than 25,000 spectators yesterday.

For 38-year-old former World Series champion Duque, the win represented the first time in 61 weeks that he has topped the podium.

“It was a good comp,” he said. “Artem, Jonathan (Paredes), David (Colturi) and Gary did excellent dives and I’m diving on experience. I’ve been there a few times where you see the guy before you score 10s and you know you have to do the same. I’m happy that it worked out, I know that I’ve got what it takes but it’s always hard to put it together under pressure.”

With five of the eight rounds complete, the series now heads to Wales for the next date on the calendar, on September 14.

“The UK is the next event and I can’t wait for that one,” said Hunt. “I was a bit disappointed to be in third place last year. I’m just going to be working hard to be on top of that podium again.”