Gary Hunt completed a hat-trick of Red Bull World Cliff Diving wins with a near faultless display in the series’ fourth stop off in Kragerø, Norway.

The 30-year-old amassed a total of 513.10 points, thanks in part to his perfectly executed back triple quad from the 28m platform.

The Southampton diver is now firmly on course to win his fourth world title, having lifted the silverware in 2010, 2011 and 2012.

Hunt, naturally delighted with his performance, said: “Any time that I go over 500 points it’s a solid performance and today I felt good.

“It was such a great competition – to battle with the champion [Artem Silchenko] is an amazing thing. Both of us nailing our big dives made for a great competition.

“I think it will be a battle between us two for the title, but there are still three events to go, so who knows.”

Hunt’s closest rival ahead of the meeting was Steven LoBue, but the American didn’t make it into the final round of the top-eight divers and Hunt is now firmly in control of the series. He now leads the overall rankings on 730pts points ahead of Jonathan Paredes (470pts) and Silchenko (430pts).

Former Southampton Academy diver Blake Aldridge finished eighth to move up to seventh in the standings (350pts).