Jaki
Valente
Brazil
·
Cliff Diving
Date of birth | September 18, 1985 |
|---|---|
Birthplace | Porto Alegre |
Age | 40 |
Nationality | Brazil |
Career start | 2014 |
Discipline | Cliff Diving |
Results, however, didn’t go Valente's way during the World Series’ comeback season in 2021, meaning the 36-year-old Brazilian will once again return to wildcard status in 2022.
A trained gymnast since the age of seven, she was recruited by a talent scout into a professional club and started to represent Brazil on an international level before getting selected for the Olympic Games in 2000. However, a serious elbow injury in 1998 buried the dream of becoming an Olympic athlete.
Before finishing her education as a coach, circus called and despite first hesitations – ‘I don’t know how to be a clown’ – Valente accepted the challenge and signed a three-year acrobat contract in a German amusement park. So, when did the water part come in?
“When the circus came up with the plan of creating a high diving show for the following season, they sent me to a training camp in the Ukraine to learn the basics of diving and should I master them, the job was mine.” The cheerful character accepted the next challenge. “I smashed all of my first attempts on going head-first, but ended up getting the contract.”
Still, high diving didn’t play a part in her life until 2012 when she lost a bet. An 18m high dive before the end of the season at the House of Dancing Water in Macau was the stake. “When I experienced the feeling of falling from such great heights, I fell in love with it.”
Her way into the competitive side of diving from great heights was plastered with more challenges, such as writing down the dive list before the competition with all its number and letter codes for somersaults, positions and take offs: “I didn’t have a clue and explained my dive to the head judge so he could write down the dive, but we ended up talking about two different things and my performance scored 1s besides being a really good dive”, Valente realized she had to get her head around this sport. “I felt a bit out of place among this group of ‘divers for life’.”
It was in 2017 when everything fell into place and the acrobat finally turned into a high diver: second place in Polignano a Mare sealed her successful transformation. “Red Bull Cliff Diving is my family, and I can’t wait to return!”