Gary Hunt maintained his challenge for a third consecutive Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series crown with a podium finish on the volcanic archipelago of the Azores, Portugal.

The Southampton diver finished third to strengthen his grip on second place in the overall standings and also landed the highest points score (173.25) for a single dive during the competition’s third stop.

Russia’s Artem Silchenko won the event, with Orlando Duque just 0.1 points behind in second.

The fourth round of the seven-stop series takes place on August 3-4 in Ireland.

STANDINGS AFTER STOP 3

  1.  Orlando Duque 450,
  2.  Gary Hunt 440,
  3.  Steven Lobue 360,
  4.  Artem Silchenko 300,
  5.  Kent De Mond 290,
  6.  Michal Navratil 250,
  7.  Alain Kohl 209,
  8.  Anatoliy Shabotenko 180,
  9.  David Colturi 160,
  10.  Cyrille Oumedjkane 120.