New Zealand has announced its largest-ever Olympic Canoe Sprint team of 10 athletes for Paris 2024, with two more set for Canoe Slalom.
Six-time Olympic medalist Lisa Carrington will lead from the front, participating in K1, K2, and K4 events.
The nation’s most successful Olympian and 15-time world champion will pair up with Alicia Hoskin in the K2 500, with the intention of defending the gold medal she won alongside Caitlin Regal at Tokyo 2020.
Carrington and Hoskin will also team up with Olympic Games debutants Tara Vaughan and Olivia Brett in the K4.
The quartet will be high on confidence going into the Games as the world champions.
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Rio 2016 Olympian Aimee Fisher, a four-time world medallist, is returning to the fold and will compete in the K1 500 and K2 500, where she will be accompanied by Lucy Matehaere.
The men’s team will also be taking part in the K4, with Tokyo 2020 Olympians Max Brown and Kurtis Imrie setting the tone with debutants Hamish Legarth and Grant Clancy.
Imrie and Legarth will also race the K2 500, while Brown will team up with Clancy in the C2 500.
New Zealand’s Canoe Sprint team in full: Lisa Carrington, Aimee Fisher, Alicia Hoskin, Caitlin Regal, Lucy Matehaere, Tara Vaughan, Olivia Brett, Max Brown, Kurtis Imrie, Hamish Legarth, and Grant Clancy.
The Kiwi Canoe Slalom team consists of Luuka Jones and Finn Butcher.
Jones, a silver medallist at Rio 2016, is heading to her fifth Olympic Games, becoming the third woman from her country to do so along with Valerie Adams and Barbara Kendall.
The 35-year-old was diagnosed with long Covid in 2022 and returned to training and competitions only last year, making it all the more impressive.
Butcher, meanwhile, is set for his Olympic debut after being a K1 reserve for Tokyo 2020.
He won a kayak cross World Cup silver on the Paris 2024 Olympic course last year and will be hoping for a repeat or an upgrade during the Games.
New Zealand’s Canoe Slalom team in full: Luuka Jones and Finn Butcher.
Related links
- Fisher returns as Carrington leads New Zealand charge for Paris 2024
- Luuka Jones determined to get to fifth Olympics despite health scare
- Carrington begins 2024 on high with top national awards
