Luuka Jones

EVENT: Canoe Slalom: Women's K1 and Women's Kayak Cross

Canoe slalom athlete Luuka Jones will be competing in her fifth Olympic Games at Paris 2024.

The Tauranga paddler won a historic silver medal at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. She qualified seventh for the K1-final, finishing with a stunning run down the 24-gate 242m course in a time of 101.28s. It was New Zealand's first ever Olympic medal in canoe slalom.

Jones became New Zealand's first female canoe slalom Olympian at the Beijing Games in 2008, where she placed 21st. She says that experience drove her on and made her want to be a better athlete.

She also competed at the London 2012 Olympic Games where she placed 14th. In Tokyo she competed in both the K1 and C1 disciplines, finishing 6th in K1 and 13th in C1.

Jones has spent years travelling around the canoe slalom hotspot of Europe, training with and learning from the world's best slalom athletes.

In early 2022 Jones was diagnosed with long Covid and was forced to take the year off training and competing. She returned to the competition circuit in 2023, winning the women's kayak cross final at the Paris Canoe Slalom World Cup regatta. Away from canoe slalom, Jones loves all water sports and most outdoor pursuits.