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New Zealand's Luuka Jones - Source: Photosport
The New Zealand Olympic Committee has confirmed today the selection of canoe slalom paddlers Mike Dawson and Luuka Jones to London 2012.
The Rotorua-based pair become the first Kiwis to represent New Zealand in men's canoe slalom since the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.
The selection announcement follows strong performances from the two athletes confirming their spots inside the world top 16 in their sport and meeting the tough New Zealand Olympic Committee criteria.
25-year-old Dawson, who has been training Kiwi-style in the rapids on the Kaituna River in lieu of a more suitable artificial course in New Zealand, qualified New Zealand as 11th ranked Nation at the 2011 World Championships in Slovakia in September last year.
Jones, 23, now heads to her second Olympic Games, having been the first New Zealand woman to represent New Zealand in her sport at Beijing as a teenager where she finished 21st.
She recorded a second place at this weekend's New Zealand Open Canoe Slalom Championships and qualified New Zealand as the 14th ranked nation in K1M in Slovakia.
