Rio silver medallist Luuka Jones enjoying the challenge of two disciplines

Luuka Jones is keen to brush up on her French.

She’s also determined to push herself to discover if she can cut the Olympic canoe slalom discipline in a bid to pursue success in two events at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020.

So the Rio Olympic silver medallist is basing herself in Pau, near the Pyrenees in the south of France, for several months to immerse herself in the sport. The fact that it’s also the venue for this year’s world championships in September is, er, not exactly coincidental.

Hence the French, which she studied at school but is now endeavouring to brush up.

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“I’m battling a bit but I am trying. I should definitely have paid more attention in school,” she laughed.

Jones has company on her European summer. Fellow Olympian Mike Dawson, up and coming under 23 paddler Finn Butcher from Alexandra, and her coach Campbell Walsh are with her and this weekend she is in La Seu d’Urgell for a Pyrenees Cup event, a forerunner to the World Cup competitions.

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