New Zealand kayaker Luuka Jones has placed 10th at the world championships. Photo / CANOE SLALOM NEW ZEALAND
New Zealand kayaker Luuka Jones has placed 10th at the world championships. Photo / CANOE SLALOM NEW ZEALAND
Kayaker Luuka Jones has secured New Zealand's best finish at a world canoe slalom championship, finishing 10th at Deep Creek Lake in the United States.
But it could've been so much better for the 25-year-old, who was ruled to have missed a gate in the 10-boat final after qualifying second-fastest.
"I felt good over the entire weekend and it was a shame that one small mistake cost me so much," Jones lamented. "I was having a good run and on one move turned too early for a gate and missed it. I paddled back for it but they still gave me a 50sec penalty. That's the nature of canoe slalom I guess - being a few inches off-line can cost you a lot - but qualifying for the final in second place was a massive highlight."
It's already been a breakthrough year for the Bay of Plenty paddler, becoming the first New Zealander to finish the World Cup circuit ranked in the top-10, with a season-best of 10th in Slovenia in June. Her world championship finish is a huge confidence boost a year out from qualifying for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, where Jones hopes to represent New Zealand for the third successive Games.
"It's been a good season for me and it's really nice to finish on a high but I'm definitely looking forward to a bit of a break."
Jones' result capped a great weekend for the small New Zealand contingent, with Mike Dawson also collecting his best world championship result, finishing 12th in the men's K1.
Dawson was just 1.13secs away from progressing to the top-10 final.
"I'm a bit gutted to have come so close to making the final but overall I'm stoked - this is my best worlds result and it came after a tough start to the year when I had my wrist operated on," Dawson said.
Young C1 paddler Ben Gibb also had his best world championship result, finishing 39th, after fighting back from a missed gate in his first run. Shaun Higgins also made positive gains since coming back from injury, finishing 45th.
