The experience of the 2008 Beijing Olympics is what female New Zealand canoe slalom athlete Luuka Jones has over some of her competition going into the London Olympic Games.

For Luuka, 24, basing her training in England has allowed her to have extended practices on the Olympic course, gaining as much advantage as she can ahead of her second Olympics.

Luuka Jones battles the currents during her world cup race in La Seu D'Urgell,Spain. Photo: Sourced by Luuka Jones

She confirmed her Olympic spot last year and has since been focusing her training and competitions on peaking for the games.

Luuka, who was the first female slalom canoeist to represent New Zealand at an Olympic Games, says the preparation is going to plan.

'It's been going really well. I have been based in the UK for nearly three months now and I've had a good amount of time paddling on the Olympic course.

'My times in the recent world cup races were extremely competitive, I just had some costly penalties which affected my results on paper, but so far everything is on track.”

She spends the summer training on the Kaituna River, then during the New Zealand winter trains and competes in world championship regattas in Europe.

The 24-year-old has based herself in Nottingham, England since she left secondary school and trains with Great Britain's slalom athletes.

The Tauranga-born athlete has a number of achievements to show for herself, including being a four-time New Zealand national champion, New Zealand's number one ranked K1 female, runner-up in the highly competitive British open champions 2011, and the first female to represent New Zealand in canoe slalom at an Olympic Games, in 2008.

Although Luuka isn't expected by many to gain a medal place, she is confident she'll throw in a surprise come race day.

'I'm not a favourite for the medals but I know, and my times have shown, if I have a good run with no penalties I can be in the mix. I'll just focus on having a fast, clean run and let the results follow.”

Luuka's goals after the London Olympics are to become the best female K1 canoe slalom athlete in the world and win gold at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games