Lisa Carrington on Friday stared down one of biggest challenges to her paddling supremacy, and in doing so locked away an eighth Olympic gold to move alongside the biggest name in the sport’s history for most Games victories.
And the New Zealander has given a strong indication, at 35-years-of-age, that she’s not finished yet.
As she did in Tokyo, Carrington finished five days of paddling with an incredible three gold medals. Her victories in the K1 500, the K2 500 and the K4 500 moves her alongside German legend Birgit Fischer with the most wins in canoe sprint Olympic history.
The much anticipated K1 500 showdown with fellow New Zealander, Aimee Fisher, did not eventuate. Instead it was the Hungarian, Tamara Csipes, who was throwing down the challenge. Csipes finished second behind Carrington in Tokyo, and did so again in Paris.
But Carrington admitted after the race that the two defeats at the hands of Fisher at world cups earlier in the year had made an impact on her. In many ways, they were a pre-Olympic wake-up call.
“You probably don’t realise how much you feel that your identity is wrapped in winning, and until you don’t win do you realise what I was leaning on,” Carrington said.
“I think it was really like reminding myself why I do this, using my team, and also I think it made me realise that I really had to fight today, to perform this whole week. I really had to be super diligent.
“I guess it just taught me that I had to pay attention to the detail, and turning up and literally being able to handle the pressure, is a tough thing. I worked really hard on figuring that one out.”
It’s not only on the water Carrington has taken the sport to a new level. Off the water she and her team have become very adept at preparation, at dealing with problems, and in staying focused.
Which of course means Carrington turns up at Olympics with high goals.
“It’s hard not to have that expectation,” she said.
“I think when you know that you have that capability for something like that, it’s hard not to see it as an expectation. But I think also I have to see it as a possibility, not see it as something that I have to do, but something that I want to do.
“That’s part of the Olympics. The biggest stage to perform what you can do on any given day is a hard ask.”
So what of the record? It’s taken Carrington four Olympics to achieve what Birgit Fischer achieved over six Games. Fischer won two individual gold, while Carrington has five. Fischer finished with 12 medals altogether, while Carrington currently has nine.
There are only two women across all sports who have won more gold – US swimmer Katie Ledecky, and Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina, who both have nine.
“It’s crazy,” Carrington said.
“I’ve said it many times, I don’t do it to count how many medals that I have, but it’s cool. She’s a legend of the sport, and to be alongside her is really cool. I think there’s also some other incredible women that haven’t necessarily achieved gold medals.
“It’s wicked. It just feels so privileged to even be here, and be a part of the Olympic Games in canoeing.”
And now the big question. Carrington has nothing more to prove. She has competed at four Olympic Games, and won gold medals at all of them. She held an incredible record over the 200 before it was taken off the Games program, not having been beaten for a decade.
She now has consecutive gold medals in the K1 500 and the K2 500. And after years of blood, sweat and tears, she helped a New Zealand women’s K4 500 crew finally break through for their first title.
Is there a desire to keep going?
“It’s pretty enticing after this one, isn’t it,” she said.
“Who knows. I’ll just fly home on Monday, have a rest, and get on New Zealand soil it will be really nice. I just can’t wait to get my feet grounded again, so it will be good.”
