Luuka Jones has been given a late boost as a seven-strong New Zealand canoe slalom team heads into the first ICF World Cup of the season in Prague this weekend.
Tauranga's Jones, the Olympic K1 (kayak) silver medallist, has taken on the additional challenge of C1 (canoe) this year and will make her World Cup debut on the famous Troja venue in Prague.
It comes the same week the International Olympic Committee confirmed that women's C1 would be added to the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, although Jones was keeping her focus firmly in the short term.
"I'm looking forward to racing in Prague - it's one of my favourite courses - and it will be the first World Cup for me doing both C1 and K1, so there will be some learning going on but at the same time I am hoping to put down good runs in both classes," Jones said.
"By doubling up, we're now having to fit in training for two classes instead of one and because they are technically quite different, I need to spend time developing both. It is a bit of an experiment but so far it is working."