Last month Hatton told the Queenstown Times she had a future goal of an Olympic gold and on Thursday night she took another step towards her ambition, when she was placed seventh in the women's K1 500 B final.
Speaking from London on Friday, Hatton said she was happy with the result and felt she had improved from last year's World Championships.
"[I] was really in the mix with the top girls, giving them a run for their money, but for me I always want more.
"I won't be truly satisfied with my performance until I get that gold."
She said through her training with Ian Ferguson she felt she was on track for that goal.
"I'm stoked. I put my training into racing, I learnt a lot and I am even more excited now for my future of kayaking."
The 22-year-old, now an Aucklander, started competing internationally for New Zealand four years ago and has raced in world championships and world cups for the K1, K2, K4 500m and 1000m events.
In her B final she took a time of 1min 52sec.
The gold medallist, Danuta Kozak, of Hungary, finished the main final in 1:41.456.
Commentators during the race labelled Hatton as "one to watch out for" as a future competitor in the sport.
She took up kayaking late and unintentionally, when she was competing in surf ski competitions in the North Island and wanted to improve her paddling.
She attributes her interest in sport to growing up with the giant backyard that is Queenstown. Her first taste of sport was when she took up skiing before even entering primary school.
She and parents Patricia and Jim lived at Sunshine Bay, before leaving for Auckland when she was 6, and she still misses Queenstown at times and calls it home.
While in Queenstown, her father worked at Skippers Canyon in mining and her mother at the Queenstown District Court and for the Queenstown police.
