Gary
Hunt
France
·
Cliff Diving
Date of birth | June 11, 1984 |
|---|---|
Birthplace | London, UK |
Age | 41 |
Nationality | France |
Career start | 2009 |
Disciplines | Cliff Diving |
Having previously never missed a World Series competition between 2009 and 2023, the London-born athlete surrendered his permanent spot on the tour in favour of fulfilling his Olympic dream in his adopted home city of Paris last year. There, the Frenchman wore a smile wider than the Seine as he competed with pride in the 10m synchro competition.
Following on from that, the 40-year-old returned to the 27m platform – understandably a little rusty – to post two ninth-place finishes towards the end of last season.
The early years of Hunt’s career were primarily focused on the 3m springboard and 10m platform, with moderate success culminating in a bronze medal in the 10m Synchro event at the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Soon after, cliff diving came calling…
“My first memory of high diving was seeing a video of a long-haired diver scoring 10s on a back double with 4 twists, I think we all know who that was,” reveals Hunt. “At that point I started imagining what dives I would be able to do from those heights and the seed was planted. The rest is history.”
That long-haired diver, of course, was cliff diving legend Orlando Duque. The Colombian had dominated the sport for a decade, and although he just managed to hold off the challenge of a fresh-faced Hunt at the inaugural World Series in 2009, the stage was set for a new legend to take over. Following that debut season, Hunt went on to win 10 titles in the next 12 seasons, only being edged out twice by Russia’s Artem Silchenko in 2013 and the Mexican ‘stylemaster’ Jonathan Paredes in 2017.
The highly decorated Hunt also holds the 2015 and 2019 FINA High Diving World Championship titles, along with golds at the 2016 and 2018 FINA High Diving World Cup events.
When in the summer of 2019 Hunt finally laid his hands on the cliff diving’s Holy Grail – five straight 10s from the judges in Beirut – he credited his rivals for pushing the boundaries and helping drive him to perfection: "I absolutely feel pressure. It's so much easier for me when there is a fight, when there are other divers doing well. It's more enjoyable as well. I want to be in a battle, I don't want to have it easy and so I try to use it."
Having represented Great Britain since the start of his career, Hunt, who is also a keen juggler and skilled piano and guitar player, and loves learning new languages, switched allegiance to France in 2020.
Two more World Series titles followed in 2021 and 2022, as the ‘flying Frenchman’ sensationally held off the strong challenge of Constantin Popovici, Aidan Heslop and Catalin Preda, bagging tens galore and proving he was still the top dog even in his late 30s.
With one eye on the Paris Games, it was perhaps inevitable that Hunt would finally relinquish his crown in 2023. For the first time in his glittering career, he failed to make the podium or finish in the top two overall, as Popovici became the first diver to take the King Kahekili trophy from him since 2017.
A silver medal at last year’s World Aquatics Championships in Doha proved that he’s still got what it takes to compete at the highest level, and in 2025 Hunt returned as a wildcard to take on the sport’s new top dogs.