Luuka Jones finished sixth in the K1 women's final at the Australian Canoe Slalom Championships. Photo / Jamie Troughton/Dscribe Media Services
Luuka Jones finished sixth in the K1 women's final at the Australian Canoe Slalom Championships. Photo / Jamie Troughton/Dscribe Media Services
Luuka Jones has finished sixth in a highly-competitive K1 women's final at the Australian Canoe Slalom Championships in Penrith.
Jones was the only Kiwi to progress to the finals on the second day of competition and her 112.09s run left her 8.32s adrift of hometown winner and reigning world championJess Fox.
Fox had a convincing win with a clean 103.77s run, putting her 3.47s clear of 2017 world championships bronze medallist Ricarda Funk (Germany).
Some of the biggest names in world slalom were at the championships at the Penrith Whitewater Stadium and it was the international paddlers who dominated the men's C1 with Rio 2016 Olympic champion Denis Gargaud Chanut from France taking the win.
Chanut had a clean run and a finishing time of 98.68s which saw him 1.01s ahead of Rio 2016 silver medallist Matej Benus (Slovakia). Slovenia's 2014 C2 world champion Luka Bozic finished third.
Jones and fellow Kiwi Kelly Travers made today'ssemifinals of the women's C1, while Callum Gilbert - who agonisingly missed the New Zealand senior men's team in a tight selection battle - is the only Kiwi in the men's K1 semifinals.
