Kiwi veteran Luuka Jones has captured the first World Cup victory of her long career, winning the women's kayak cross final at the venue for next year's Paris Olympics.
Sidelined by a debilitating bout of COVID-19 last year, Jones, 34, dominated a field that included Australian Olympic K1 champion Jessica Fox and British world slalom cross champion Kimberley Woods.
"I've waited a long time for this, but it feels good," said Jones. "It's my first World Cup gold in over 10 years of racing and I think, considering the year I had last year, it’s been amazing.
"I didn't expect it, to be honest. I just went through the rounds and I had a really good plan, so I guess it just happened.
"I feel healthy now and, if anything, I’m just grateful to be back and grateful to be healthy. It feels quite surreal, because I didn't want to focus on trying to make five Olympics - I just wanted to perform at the world championships.
"If anyone had told me this when I was young, I wouldn’t have believed them."
Jones attended her first Olympics Beijing 2008 and claimed the K1 silver medal at Rio de Janiero eight years later. She was a world championship bronze medallist in 2019, before placing sixth at the Tokyo Olympics.
She has four previous World Cup silver medals, including one for the relatively new kayak cross discipline, which will make its first Olympic appearance at Paris.
Her second-place finish was enough for Woods to clinch the overall World Cup crown, with Jones second.
"In New Zealand, we have a history of extreme racing, we have a lot of paddlers who have done well in the past in the extreme events, and we have had some results on the world stage recently," Jones told Newshub.
"I think it's a really exciting event. I love that it's head-to-head and I think it'll be an interesting one to watch for in Paris."
Fellow Kiwi Finn Butcher captured his second World Cup silver, finishing behind Frenchman Boris Neveu.
