Luuka Jones is going from strength to strength on the World Cup canoe slalom circuit. Photo / File
Two-time New Zealand Olympian Luuka Jones scored her best-ever result on the world cup canoe slalom circuit overnight finishing 13th at the latest round in Slovenia.
Tauranga-born Jones showed she is building strongly for next month's world championships, clocking 125.46secs for her semifinal run, which included a 2sec penalty for
touching a gate.
Her raw time was just 0.71secs off making her first world cup final, although Jones was more than satisfied with result which comfortably bettered her previous best; 19th in Germany two years ago.
"It felt really good to have a solid run," the 24-year-old said. "I had a mistake at the top and a few time losses but, overall, I am pleased to have had a fairly good race. My goal for the weekend was to put together some solid runs without missing any gates [50sec penalties] or big mistakes, as all the races I have done so far this year have been fast in parts but with big mistakes or penalties."
Jones has represented New Zealand at the Beijing and London Olympics, the first Kiwi female slalom paddler to feature at that level.
