SOUTHAMPTON’S Gary Hunt has continued his remarkable 2015 Red Bull World Cliff Diving Championship run.

Hunt claimed his fifth successive victory at the circular-shaped Vila Franca do Campo islet offshore from São Miguel in the Azores archipelago.

In what was the year’s closest result, from almost three times the Olympic height, Hunt and co returned to the sport’s roots and leapt directly off the cliff to hit the water three seconds later with their bare feet at speeds of 85kph.

After the competition’s seeding round off the ‘Snakehead’ rock, the 31-year-old Hunt was languishing down in 12th place.

But he recovered to rack up a haul of 471.80 points to win for the fifth time in a row.

And although Hunt’s winning streak continued, Mexico’s rising star Jonathan Paredes (450.90pts) – the youngest athlete in the World Series at 25 – pushed the champion closer than anyone else has done so far this season, achieving 10s from the judges for two of his dives.

For the first time in his World Series career, and in his 16th World Series competition, America’s Andy Jones (412.90pts) finished on the podium after four rounds of cliff diving – two from the rocks and two from the platform.

Hunt admitted: “I definitely put pressure on myself with a shaky start.

“I just knew that it was so important for my morale to do a good first dive off the rocks. It just lifted my spirits and confidence to keep going.

“Last year was tough in the Azores, and it’s difficult to have it in your mind that ’yeah, you’re great off the platform, but you can’t do it off the rocks’, so it feels great to prove to myself that I can do it.

“There’s more pressure on me now for the sixth stop.

“Who knows, this could be a perfect season and that would be incredible!”

In the overall standings, Hunt leapt to a total of 1,000 points, with Colombia’s Orlando Duque, who missed the final after losing his head-to-head duel with Jones, and former Southampton-based Olympian Blake Aldridge tied in second (590pts).

With three more competitions to come, Jonathan Paredes (449pts) and David Colturi (430pts), from the USA, complete the top five.

Hunt bids for a sixth win in a row at Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina on August 15.

The series then moves onto Polignano a Mare in Italy on September 13, before concluding in Bilbao, Spain, a fortnight later.

Hunt is aiming to win the title for a fifth time in six years.

After claiming the crown in 2010, 2011 and 2012, he was runner-up in 2013. But he bounced back to reclaim the title in 2014.