Last weekend, over some of the picturesque islands of El Nido, Palawan, seasoned cliff divers French-British Gary Hunt and Australian Rhiannan Iffland shone the brightest by topping the first leg of the 2025 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series.

Behind that scene, though, was legend in the sport itself in Orlando Duque, the first-ever Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series champion in 2009 who now serves as the the Red Bull Cliff Diving sports director.

At 50 and with 13 world titles under his belt, the retired Colombian high diver is embracing his new role in the sport he grew to love. In fact, they have been working to make it in a grand stage like the Olympics.

With sports already assigned in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, Duque is crossing his fingers they could make it to the 2023 edition in Brisbane, Australia. After all, they have a good Australian representation in the sport, which could help push for its inclusion.

“The sport has all that is needed, and it's challenging, it's difficult, it's a show, you know, besides the competition,” Duque said.

“So hopefully, they take into it. We're working really hard. All the divers really want to get to the Olympics and hopefully, one day, we're going to be there,” he added.

Duque, who last saw action in the 2019 World Series in Bilbao, Spain, also said cliff diving gives a different thrill.

“I mean, diving is great but diving in the pool is pretty much the same everywhere you go, yeah? Cliff Diving, look, in two, or three days, four dives only, three different locations. It keeps them thinking, it keeps them challenging, they have to adapt to every [different] conditions, you don't get that in [high] diving,” said Duque, who holds two Guinness Book of World Records that include a perfect 10 at the 2000 world championships.

“The sport is the same, you're flipping and twisting in the air but at the end, you don't get the same kind of feeling like we have in Cliff Diving when you change locations,” he added.