Sick Schmidbauer lacks the strength in the end

After two of four laps Iris Schmidbauer was in fifth place at the “Red Bull Cliff Diving” in Ireland.

After that she fell back because her body was bothering her - on top of that in uncomfortable conditions.

Downpatrick Head - It all came together in the end. Not enough that Iris Schmidbauer was already physically ailing. A split second before she was about to plunge into the surging Atlantic below for the final jump, some insect flew around in front of her face. Nobody standing on a platform 20 meters above the water can use this. Schmidbauer made a sign to competition director Greg Louganis (four-time Olympic champion in diving) that she had to make a stop.

Despite the problems, Iris Schmidbauer showed one of the most difficult jumps for women in the cliff diving scene: a triple backflip with two screws.

However: In order to get the last rotation before immersing, the Pähler had to bend her knees - as in the competition in France.

Such a thing is punished by the judges with high deductions.

The German was therefore not able to finish more than ninth in “Red Bull Cliff Diving” in Ireland.

Schmidbauer therefore has to wait for a top result in the current season.

Schmidbauer is enthusiastic about the location

“Unfortunately, I didn't feel good physically,” reported the 26-year-old.

Plagued by a cold, "I didn't have enough energy to do the final jumps well".

After two of a total of four laps, Schmidbauer was in fifth place.

Accordingly motivated, she went into the final jumps.

Schmidbauer was deeply impressed by the competition site, the cliff landscape at Downpatrick Head in the western Irish district of Mayo.

“What an experience.

What a great place for cliff jumping, ”she shared via“ Instagram ”.

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Pleasant is different: Iris Schmidbauer and the other athletes stayed warm with hats and anoraks, among other things.

© Red Bull Content Pool

However, the conditions were anything but easy. Typical coastal weather with gusts of wind, gray clouds and rain showers accompanied the women and men on all training and competition days. The waves lashed threateningly against the cliffs. During the final, the air temperature was 14 degrees Celsius, the water temperature 15 degrees Celsius. And the wind was blowing at 17 km / h, which means three Beaufort. "Keeping warm is a challenge," said Head of Competition Louganis. And dealing with the strong wind, "is above all a mental thing". Series winner Rhiannan Iffland (Australia), who also won in Ireland by a large margin, was unimpressed by all this. She shone with a record result of 391.60 points. No athlete had ever achieved that much in four jumps in the Red Bull Series.

Iris Schmidbauer, who recently finished seventh in Mostar and is on the up trend, already has her eye on the next competitions in Italy and definitely wants to "show my best jumps" there.

First of all, however, “I want to get well again”.

As eighth in the overall standings, she needs good results in order to continue to be among the fixed starters.

In the men's race in Ireland, British-born Gary Hunt (442.50), who has been racing for France for some time, won.

For the two-time FINA world champion (2015, 2019) it was the second victory in a row.