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Gary HUNT
Sport Diving, High Diving
NOC France   
GenderMen
Born11 Jun 1984 in Southampton, ENG
Height1.75 m
 Human Interest 
General Interest
Other information
 GREAT BRITAIN TO FRANCE
He competed for Great Britain until 2020 when he switched to represent France. He first moved to France in 2010 to perform in high diving at entertainment shows, and gained a French passport in 2019 before being cleared to represent France in 2020. He aims to represent his new nation in diving [10m platform] at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. "It wasn't an easy decision. There are a lot of unknowns around Brexit and how difficult it's going to be travelling around with just a British passport, but France has also become my home. With the Olympics coming to Paris in 2024 it would be great to compete for the country I've lived in and with the team I've trained as part of for nearly a decade. It's exciting and funny to think that so late on in my career I'm now back to having the same dream of competing in an Olympics that I had over 20 years ago." (bbc.co.uk, 19 Sep 2020)

WORLDS REDEMPTION
He won a gold medal at the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju, Republic of Korea, which he said was redemption after finishing fifth at the 2017 World Championships. In 2017 an error on his final dive cost him the chance of a medal. "I had a difficult end of the year [in 2017], a kind of mental block. I questioned myself a lot and I started 2018 in a very slow way, performing a limited set of dives. Over the months, I recovered my confidence. I learned from Budapest [2017] where I left my hardest dive until last and I crumbled under the pressure. But I've learned from my mistakes and [in 2019] I put a dive that I know I can do well under pressure in that last round. [Winning gold] means a big deal." (swimming.org, 24 Jul 2019; bbc.co.uk, 24 Jul 2019; fina.org, 16 Dec 2018)

FEAR OF HEIGHTS
He admits to having a fear of heights. "Normally, I am a little bit scared of heights when there's no water underneath. Because I'm so used to judging height and seeing how many somersaults and twists I can do from that height, I can't help but imagine how it would feel to somersault and jump off. So where there's no water underneath, it scares the life out of me." (redbull.com, 02 Jun 2016)
Sport Specific Information
Training Regime
 He does most of his training indoors in Paris, France. "Cliff diving is one of the rare sports for which you can't train all year round, because you don't normally have the luxury of a 27-metre high platform. You have to rely on imagination instead. I run through the dive in my head a lot before I do it, so it feels like I've done it much more than I actually have. Last year [2018], they opened a training facility in China with the world's first permanent 27-metre high diving platform. In previous years we haven't had that opportunity, so this is a big step for the sport."
General Interest
Milestones
 At the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series event in Beirut, Lebanon, in July 2019, he became the first diver in the history of the series to receive a perfect 10 score from each of the five judges. (gulftoday.ae, 16 Jul 2019)
Ambitions
 To compete in diving [10m platform] at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. (bbc.co.uk, 19 Sep 2020)
Hobbies
 Table tennis, juggling, playing the piano and guitar, DIY, woodwork, mixed martial arts. (redbull.com, 15 Apr 2019; Facebook page, 10 Nov 2018)
Injuries
 He had chicken pox during the 2012 season, which forced him to spend two weeks in isolation. (redbull.co.uk, 27 Sep 2012)

He broke his leg when skiing in 2000. The leg was in a cast for eight months and he began training again six weeks after having the cast taken off, which led to him again breaking the same leg in the same place. He missed a further eight months of training and required a period of rehabilitation. (menshealth.co.uk, 02 Jul 2010)
Sport Specific Information
Why this sport?
 He decided to try high diving after realising that there was a lot of talent coming through in indoor diving in Great Britain. "I would have loved to have stayed on 10m dives, but a young Tom Daley was coming through. I remember he beat me in a competition when he was only 12 and that's when I realised it would be difficult to keep up if he was already at this high level at such a young age. High diving seemed like an open book at the time, and I could see there was room for improvement. It felt like a natural step, and as soon as I started doing the higher stuff, I found my confidence."
General Interest
Hero / Idol
 Russian diver Dmitri Sautin. (menshealth.co.uk, 02 Jul 2010)
Sport Specific Information
When and where did you begin this sport?
 He began diving at age nine in Leeds, England. He took up high diving in 2006.
Further Personal Information
Occupation
 Athlete
Languages
 English, French
General Interest
Other sports
 He has competed in diving, and won bronze representing England in the synchronised 10m platform at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, VIC, Australia. (bbc.co.uk, 19 Sep 2020, 24 Mar 2006; SportsDeskOnline, 11 Aug 2017)
Awards and honours
 He was presented with the International Swimming Federation [FINA] Male High Diver of the Year award in 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019. (swimmingworldmagazine.com, 16 Dec 2018; bbc.co.uk, 05 Dec 2016; fina.org, 07 Dec 2021)
Further Personal Information
Residence
 Paris, FRA
Higher education
 Criminology, Mathematics - Southampton Solent University: England
General Interest
Sporting philosophy / motto
 "Once you have a mental blockade, it never really goes away. You have to learn how to handle it, and you'll grow with it. I'm not old Gary, I'm a different one now: Gary 2.0." (ipso.com, 09 Sep 2019)

 Competition Highlights
World Championships
Rank Year Venue Event Result
19 2024 Doha, QAT 10m Platform Synchro 295.83 
Preliminary Round 2023 Fukuoka, JPN 10m Platform Synchro  
8 2022 Budapest, HUN 10m Platform Synchro 246.39
Grand Prix
Rank Year Venue Event Result
15 2008 Rome, ITA 10m Platform 325.60
4 2008 Rome, ITA 10m Platform Synchro 375.57
8 2007 Rome, ITA 10m Platform Synchro 392.31
9 2006 Zhuhai, CHN 10m Platform Synchro 332.76
7 2005 Madrid, ESP 10m Platform Synchro 236.46
9 2005 Rostock, GER 10m Platform Synchro 276.66
14 2005 Rostock, GER 3m Springboard Synchro 215.37
European Championships
Rank Year Venue Event Result
6 2023 Kraków, POL 10m Platform Synchro 315.84
6 2022 Rome, ITA Team Event 317.15
6 2022 Rome, ITA 10m Platform Synchro 212.70
6 2006 Budapest, HUN 10m Platform Synchro 412.65