Nine-time world champion and current leader of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series 2011 Orlando Duque will miss the rest of the season after breaking his ankle.
The 36-year-old Colombian, who was taking part in a skydive in Hawaii, underwent successful surgery on Thursday, with the injury expected to keep him out of action for between three and six months.
It’s a major blow for Duque who had recently returned to some of his best form, but, if his determination to return from previous setbacks is anything to go by, then he will not be out of the water for long.
After winning the inaugural Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series in 2009, Duque ended a testing year in 2010 as the runner-up to Gary Hunt.
Duque worked hard during the off-season to recapture his past form and returned to his dominant best at the start of this year, winning the first two events, in Rapa Nui and Mexico, and had hoped to make it a hat-trick of wins in Greece on May 22.
Everyone at Red Bull Cliff Diving wishes Orlando the quickest possible recovery.
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Dean Treml/Red Bull Cliff Diving
Orlando out of World Series