Carlos Gimeno wanted to fight for the podium in the last two rounds of ‘high diving’from a 27-meter platform in Momochi Bay, but as he later commented, he lacked “the little details” and finished in sixth position, with a total score of 396.00, 30 points behind Frenchman Gary Hunt, who took bronze (426.30), and far from the Romanians who took the first two positions: Catalin Preda was second with 438.45 while Constantin Popovici took the title by far with 472.80. The one from Bucharest obtained notes that bordered 8.5 and 9.
“I have a feeling that I want to keep the good things. The jumps in training were better than in the competition. I need to do it once, because the work and the technique have them. I go for everything and I put a lot of intensity and desire and maybe that hurts me in the rotation of the jump. I want to get to the podium and I will continue fighting”, commented the Spanish jumper. In the female category, Carlota González, in her first World Cup at the age of 19, finished seventeenth on Wednesday, in a ‘high’ diving that is jumped from a 20-meter platform.
Popovici’s triumph has history. The Romanian jumper has been practicing high jumps for four years, motivated by his coach since he saw many facilities for him. The Romanian was a 10m platform jumper who attended the 2008 Beijing Olympics at just 20. He owes it all to his father, who had a militarized and very Stakhanovist way of instilling sport in his son: “My father was the one who instilled a love of sport in me and my sisters since we were very young. I remember when we were four or five years old we would do sit-ups and push-ups at home. With five years we ran 4 km every Sunday. He has always supported me a lot in my career, especially in the mental aspect.