Luuka Jones paddled well but was edged out of medal contention in the women’s canoe slalom K1 event today.
Jones, 35, was a silver medallist in the event at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and was looking to scale those heights again.
In the final she recorded her fastest run of the event, but incurred two time penalties when she hit the second gate.
Jones’ final tally – 102.33s - left her in eighth position.
She was extremely competitive with the field except for the runaway winner, Australian Jessica Fox, who was timed at 96.08s.
The New Zealander was disappointed with her performance.
“Not putting it all together today was disappointing. Hitting that gate was a big ‘what if’. But it shouldn’t have happened.
“When I look back, Rio was a highlight, Tokyo was disappointing and today was disappointing too.”
Earlier today Jones turned in a solid effort in the semi-final round.
With the top 12 of the 22 semi-finalists to progress to the final, she knew she had to be quick and also avoid time penalties.
Jones, who seemed to benefit from her two runs on the opening day of competition, recorded 104.91s with no penalties. The fastest of the semi-finalists was German Ricarda Funk, whose 99.31s included 2s of time penalties.
Jones will now set herself for the kayak cross event, for which she has been preparing thoroughly. She’s hoping her disappointment in the slalom will fire her up for her second event.