Romanian high divers Constantin Popovici and Catalin Petru Preda won the first medals, gold and silver, for the Romanian delegation at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, after taking the first two places in the high-altitude diving competition on Thursday (27 m), write Agerpres.

At the top of the ranking after the first two jumps on July 25, Constantin Popovici, European champion en titre, and Catalin Preda, European vice-champion, confirmed that they are the best in the world after the last two jumps on Thursday. Constantin Popovici, 34 years old, from Bucharest, became Romania’s first world champion in high-altitude diving.

In the final ranking, after four jumps, Constantin Popovici ranked first with a total of 472.80 points, followed by Catalin Petru Preda (438.45) in a competition that lined up 23 athletes.

Constantin Popovici, from CSM Bacau, also participated in the 10 m platform event, in which he ranked 18th.

Constantin Popovici has shown excellent form this season, with victories in Boston and Paris, and a second place in Polignano a Mare, Italy, in the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series circuit.