Sprint paddler Lisa Carrington dug deep today to win New Zealand’s third gold medal of the Rio Olympics.
The defending women’s K1 200 champion was a strong favourite going into her specialty event, but it took her a while to assert her dominance on the field.
The New Zealander pulled ahead over the last 60 metres and eventually won well in 39.864s. Poland’s Marta Walczykiewez was second in 40.279s and Inna Osipenko-Rodomska of Azerbaijan third.
Carrington, unbeaten in the 200m sprint for more than four years, said it was an amazing feeling to finally defend her title.
She said it was the most excited and happiest she’d had been at the end of any race.
“It was pretty amazing. It's huge,” she said. “To be able to do that at the Olympics is pretty special. It's what I've been working for. And this is why I do it - for the challenge. It’s tough, but this is why I do it.”
She said she always liked to win by a bigger margin. “But it just shows you how tough the competition is here. It's great to have those girls pushing me really hard.
“It was a tight race. The girls had an amazing start over 100 metres. But it's a 200-metre race. I just trust my fitness and know I can push through.”
Carrington said she would take a little time to absorb her victory, enjoy it and then come back down to earth to prepare to her next race at the Olympics, tomorrow’s K1 500 heats.