Olympic-bound kayaker Mike Dawson recently took out two big titles at the prestigious Teva Mountain Games in Vail, Colorado, winning the Steep Creek championship on the Homestake River and the Downriver Classic.

Dawson will become just the first Kiwi canoe slalom paddler to represent New Zealand at the Olympics, though he cut his teeth - and a fair few knuckles - in whitewater extreme racing.

The extreme circuit has also helped fund his Olympic campaign for the last three years and the $3000 he picked up for winning the Steep Creek title for the third time (he also won in 2009 and shared the title last year) means he can get more racing on the world cup slalom circuit in Europe.

"The Teva Mountain Games was a fantastic event for me again and well worth the quick trip across the Atlantic," Dawson explains. "It keeps me fresh and helps my bank account but now it's definitely time to refocus on my slalom paddling again, with only six weeks to go to London."

As expected, Dawson struggled in his return to slalom, finishing 34th in the semifinals of the world cup event in Cardiff over the weekend, but he gets another chance to perform at the next round in France this week.

His fellow Olympic paddler Luuka Jones was the best-performed Kiwi paddler, finishing 27th in the K1 women's semifinals in Cardiff, although her 1:06:21 raw time would've been good enough to make the 10-boat final had it not been for a 50sec penalty for missing a gate.