HAMPSHIRE ace Gary Hunt completed a remarkable comeback to continue his winning cliff diving run in the French town of La Rochelle.

In front of an estimated crowd of 70,000, the 32-year-old Southampton-born thrill-seeker won the fourth stop of the 2016 World Series to stretch his lead at the top of the leaderboard. France.

Trailing in 12th position after two rounds, Hunt - who is chasing his sixth world cliff diving title - turned things around in his adopted home with an almost flawless display of diving from the 27m-platform in the final rounds, including the hardest dive in the world. American Andy Jones made it two second place finishes on the bounce with another consistent performance in the Series’ birthplace.

Michal Navratil (Czech), third at the first event of the season in Texas, completed the podium once again at the spot where he finished runner-up back in 2011.

Going into a five-week summer break, the overall standings still feature Jonathan Paredes in second place behind Hunt, - although the Mexican missed out on a top-three finish for the first time this season.

“It’s a worthy gamble I’m willing to play”, Hunt had said in the days ahead of the competition from the daunting Saint Nicolas Tower in the Bay of Biscay.

It was only the second time he showed off the world’s most difficult dive – a front 3 somersaults with 4 ½ twists free – in competition in front of tens of thousands of spectators.

Hunt, who has now won in La Rochelle three years running, mastered it for 9s from the judges, with 10 being the highest possible score, and propelled himself from 12th place after two dives to his third consecutive win.

It was Hunt's 28th win in 54 stops.

"It's amazing," Hunt enthused. "Not so much the three wins in a row, just winning here.

"I've been living here for six years and all the people I've been training with over the last few years came to watch.

"And after that shaky start, I can't believe it. The front triple with 4 1/2 twist is a dive I’ve been working on for 2 and a ½ years now.

"I’ve brainstormed with my friend in Southampton and we came up with the idea and since then I’ve been working on that.

"I tried it once in Texas. It didn't go very well and today is the day it went well."

The World Series now travels to Italy’s Polignano a Mare, where the fifth stop will host the male and female cliff diving elite on August 28.