Durangoan Zachary “Bug” Lokken is now an International Canoe Federation World Cup medal winner.

Racing in the men’s C1 canoe slalom on Friday in Slovenia, Lokken beat Olympic gold medalist, Benjamin Savsek of Slovenia, and nearly the entire field to finish second and win his first WC medal.

“It was really awesome,” he said. “It was a bit of a surprise, but it was a long time coming at the same time.”

Lokken, a 2021 Olympian at the Tokyo Games, first earned a spot with Team USA in 2009 and has been racing in World Cups for over 10 years. Lokken has made numerous finals over the years with top-10 finishes, but Friday’s result put him on a World Cup podium for the first time.

“It was my first medal, so it was really special,” he said. “I’m happy I was able to do it here, stick all of my lines and perform.”

The race took place in Tacen, Ljubljana, on a human-enhanced, dam-controlled river course fed by the Saba River.

The competitors don’t get to practice on the course ahead of time, which adds to the challenge. They also change the course after the preliminary heats before the semifinals and finals.

Lokken said the course “was really hard,” with some upstream gates located in holes instead of eddies, and some racers wanted to protest it. One gate did get moved.

“It messed a lot of people up,” Lokken said about the course. “They make it so you have to use the water. There were some hard moves in holes so you had to spin into the next gate.”

He said you have to “trust yourself,” which he did, and finished fourth in the qualifying heats on Thursday.

On Friday, he again finished fourth in the semifinals, flying through the gates in 94 seconds to advance to the finals about 1.5 hours later.

“During that time I did video review to see where I can go faster,” Lokken said. “I focused on my preparation, going through the course in my head and I talked with my coach (Rafal Smolen). That helped.”

Lokken then put together another clean run and was able to knock off three seconds from his semifinal run to clock a 91.43.

“I was able to duplicate what I did well and I was able to fix what I needed to fix,” he said.

When he finished his finals run, Lokken looked up and saw he was in the lead.

“I was really excited when I finished,” he said. “I was in first with three to go. I knew I had a good run and had the potential (to medal). Two of the next guys were locals, an Olympic champ and a world champ, but I was hopeful I could beat one of them.”

Lokken said it was “very stressful” watching the next competitors, but when a Frenchman finished behind him, he knew he had earned a spot on the podium.

“I was so happy to have a medal,” he said. “I didn’t care what color it was.”

Former world champ, Luka Bozic of Slovenia, took the lead with a run of 90.29.

Savsek then took on the course, but touched one of the gates for a 2-second penalty and ended up finishing third in 93.14.

“When he also finished behind me, it was an incredible feeling to get second,” Lokken said.

In the women’s C1, Germany’s former world champion Elena Lilik stormed to victory by more than three seconds over Ukraine’s Viktoriia Us, with local paddler Eva Alina Hocevar winning her first ever senior world cup medal in third.

The race was the third of the World Cup season, in as many weeks, which began in Germany before its second stop in the Czech Republic. Lokken said he had pretty quick times in those races as well, but some mistakes cost him.

On Friday, however, it all came together for Lokken.

The result also sets him up nicely for the rest of the season where he’ll try to secure Team USA a spot in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

After the final World Cup race of the season in Spain this August, Lokken and the field will head to London for the world championships. The top 12 nations at the event will earn a spot at the Olympics, which Lokken said will take around a top-20 finish.

“This race really gave me the confidence that I’m able to achieve that,” he said. “It was really special. It will help me perform in London to get that quota spot.”

Only one athlete from each nation can compete in the Olympics. His biggest competition in the states is three-time Olympian Casey Eichfeld.

“Definitely my ultimate goal is to go to Paris and get another shot,” Lokken said. “I had a good run in Tokyo, but I had a touch in the final. I definitely had the potential to be in the top-three so I really want to give it another shot.”