They’re on the brink of glory and an art museum as cliff divers arrive in Boston

BOSTON– Rhiannan Iffland stood on the edge of a platform nearly seven stories above Boston Harbor, thousands of fans huddled on the docks, rooftops and sidewalks below, and soared through the air with the city skyline disappearing behind her as she soared toward the brown water. tea .

All in a day’s work for one of the world’s elite participants in cliff diving – a sport where sometimes the cliff isn’t even a cliff. Iffland of Australia said competition among the Institute of Contemporary Art’s cliff jumpers during a Saturday competition in Boston was fierce.

“I know the pressure is on – and the girls are diving really well,” Iffland said after winning the women’s section.

Iffland’s victory was part of a landmark cliff diving event that arrived in central New England as the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series made its 100th stop in its history. Participants plunged up to 27 meters high from the seaside art museum to the cold harbor below. British diver Aidan Heslop won the men’s competition and said: “We all have a lot of work to do” for the rest of the series.

Boston is the only US stop this year. The series concludes in Sydney, Australia in November.

The cliff attracts a special kind of athlete, especially when winning means jumping from an art museum into potentially frigid waters, organizers said.

“These epic athletes train hard to ensure every jump, somersault, twist and entry is perfect,” organizers said in a statement.

Training and the first rounds of competition were held on Friday. Judges score Saturday’s competitive round based on the divers’ form and technique. Two dozen people competed.

It was the third year in a row that the popular spectator event came to Boston. Organizers said it attracted 45,000 people over the weekend.

The art museum said in a statement that the event was a visually stunning opportunity for the public and a chance for athletes to earn “crucial championship points along the way, based on their finishing positions in the event.”

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Whittle reported from Portland, Maine.