The Oslo Opera House debuted as a sports venue as the Red Bull Cliff Diving elite showcased their skills from the 27m platform in the Norwegian capital.

On a highly competitive afternoon in Norway’s capital city, Romania’s Constantin Popovici narrowly pipped compatriot Catalin Preda to victory in what turned out to be more of a ‘Romanian rumble’ than an exhibition at the Oslo Opera House. The athletes displayed an array of extraordinary high dives to amaze the enthusiastic spectators who came to witness the first-ever sports event from this landmark building.

Following a slow start in Friday’s first round, Preda roared into life on Saturday afternoon, displaying the same acrobatic finesse and unerring precision that fired him to victory at the first stop of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series in Saint-Raphaël in June. “Yesterday, the weather surprised me, and I’m really happy with how I recovered myself today,” the 30-year-old summarised his Oslo experience, “that’s certainly a confidence booster!”

Popovici was in equally as stunning form, ripping the final dive of the competition under pressure to edge past his rival. “It was a competition between Catalin, Gary and myself, and I’m glad I turned out the winner. More than that, I’m really impressed with the crowd and how everything looks from the top. This is absolutely my favourite place.”

Cliff diving’s legendary Gary Hunt, representing France since this year, was stunned by the mammoth 30m-long platform, the longest in cliff diving history, which stretches out from the rooftop of the Oslo Opera House. “This is not a platform; it’s a runway. It’s simply impressive, and you can see it from so far off,” said Hunt, who scored third-placed at the Norway exhibition, “This place was great. I didn’t expect so many people to come out. I hope we’ll come back here!”

This was the first-ever sporting event held at the Opera House, and while no ranking points were on offer due to the travel restrictions which had forced this stop into exhibition status, it felt every bit as exciting and dramatic as a World Series event. Not only did we get another tantalising glimpse at what may well turn out to be a thrilling three-way tussle for the King Kahekili trophy, but the Norwegian fans who came out to watch were also able to enjoy some of the up-and-coming talents in the sport.

Spain’s Carlos Gimeno, the armstand specialist, furthered the feeling of déjà vu here by repeating his fourth-place finish from France. At the same time, Swiss duo Matthias Appenzeller and Jean-David Duval, along with Germany’s Manuel Halbisch, earned some valuable experience from the 27m platform. Alain Kohl of Luxembourg and Michal Navrátil of Czech Republic drew on all their years of experience to help put on a great show, with Navrátil donning his Superman cape for one final crowd-pleasing dive.


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