Artem Silchenko is the only world champion in Russia in a rare beauty and very dangerous sport - cliff diving. In 2013, he beat undefeated Englishman Gary Hunt and Colombian Orlando Duke at the end of the season. The final stage of the competition was held in Thailand. Artyom's perfectly executed jump from a twenty-seven-meter height was recognized as the best at the 2013 Cup stages, and now, in the 5th year of the competition, our athlete fulfilled his dream and won gold.
What is cliff diving? His story
There are two related types of competitions: cliff diving - jumping from natural rocks, cliffs, and high diving - jumping from artificially constructed towers. Official competitions started in 2009 when Red Bull took over their organization.
Despite the fact that such competitions began relatively recently, people have been engaged in risky jumps since ancient times. It is known that a couple of centuries ago, the natives in Hawaii proved their courage by jumping into the sea from a great height. Closer to us, in Europe, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the inhabitants competed,jumping into the river from an arched bridge two dozen meters high. These competitions in the city of Mostar still exist, the 451st city championship has already been held, and they began in the middle of the 16th century.
Biography of Artem Silchenko
The future champion was born in 1984, he spent his childhood and youth in Voronezh. Artem Silchenko started diving at the age of 4, became the champion of Russia in diving, was a member of the national team, but realized that he was no longer progressing in classical diving, and became interested in high diving. Artyom was brought to the pool by his mother, a famous gymnast in the past. She wanted to protect her son from injuries on the gymnastic platform, but it turned out that over time, the son took up a much more risky sport. Since 2004, Artem spent eight years in China, where he had the opportunity to train and compete at the stages of the World Cup in high diving. To earn money for training at the beginning of his career, the athlete performed in demonstration shows on extreme jumps, spent two years on a huge cruise ship, where he jumped from a height of ten and seventeen meters into a pool 3 meters deep as a participant in the show program.
Artem Silchenko finished the first season of the 2009 cliff diving competition with the third result. In subsequent years, Artem is a constant member of the world elite of extreme sportsmen, he won prizes at the end of the season and won separate stages of the World Cup. The biography of Artem Silchenko is a classic version of the biography of the extreme sportsman of the Red Bull seasons. As a rule, the former come to cliff divingwinners and prize-winners of traditional jumping competitions, self-taught rarely appear.
Risks and entertainment of cliff diving
Before entering the water, the extreme jumper's speed reaches 85-100 kilometers per hour. After 3-4 meters, the speed drops to zero, the overloads affecting the athlete's body are prohibitive. Heights for male jumpers are offered at the level of 23-28 meters, for women - 20-23 meters. At such diving speeds, a deviation from the vertical entry into the water threatens with severe injuries and even death for the extreme sportsman. Artem says that his rivals and at the same time his comrades were repeatedly taken by helicopters to clinics, cliff divers received such severe injuries during competitions and trainings.
The flight lasts 2-3 seconds, this is an adrenaline-filled moment, like a drug, keeps cliff divers in extreme sports. But the number of athletes in the world is small, about fifty, and the elite is generally not numerous, 15-20 people. Apparently, even at the initial stage, most applicants for performances in high diving feel all the risks of this sport in their own skin.
Stages of the Cliff Diving World Cup in Russia
In 2015 Kazan hosted the world championship in water sports. High-diving competitions became the most important event in water competitions. All the best cliff divers in the world came to the competition, all the few elite wanted to jump from a 27-meter tower. Artem Silchenko performed well in Kazan and took bronze. In the first place - the most titled and stable jumper in the world Gary Hunt.
Cliff diving on Diva rock in Crimea
We must pay tribute to Artem Silchenko as a promoter of the sport he practices. Back in February 2015, six months after the reunification of Crimea with Russia, he came to Y alta for a traditional resort exhibition held at the Y alta Intourist Hotel. With fellow athletes, they staged a breathtaking spectacle - jumping from the restaurant complex of the hotel 24 meters high into a small pool. Artem announced the upcoming World Cup, which he dreamed of holding in Crimea. In 2015, it was not possible to organize competitions, but in 2017, despite the sanctions against Crimea, the Free Right Cliff Diving Cup was held in Simeiz on the Diva rock near Y alta. All the surrounding beaches, rocks, boats and yachts were filled with spectators. The talented Englishman Gary Hunt traditionally won the first place, Silchenko and Aldridge shared the third place.
The 2017 World Series has ended. This year, it should be noted with pride, two more of our young jumpers joined Artem Silchenko at the competitions. We have prospects for the development of extreme sports in our country. After the success in Simeiz, President Putin V. V. promised to help with the organization of a permanent training center on the Diva rock.
