Canoe Sprint
Lisa Carrington ignited the final day of the 2019 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Szeged by adding the K1 500m title to the K1 200m crown she banked on Saturday to complete an exhilarating golden double.
The Kiwi kayak great was at her devastating best as she obliterated a world-class field to regain the world K1 500m she last snared four years ago in Milan.
Above; Lisa Carrington in Szeged
From the first few strokes, the 30-year-old from Ohope asserted her dominance and by 150m she was already, remarkably, a boat length up on the field.
By the halfway mark the Kiwi kayaking superstar held a monster 1.93sec advantage on her nearest pursuer, the 2017 world champion Volha Khudzenka, with the defending world champion and two-time Olympic gold medallist Danuta Kozak of Hungary a distant fourth.
Khudzenka, of Belarus, marginally closed the gap in the second half but Carrington – with her beautifully rhythmic style - was never seriously challenged and proved a class apart to secure her second gold medal in Szeged.
The Kiwi crossed the line in 1:55.76 – 1.63 clear of Khudzenka in silver. Competing on home water, Kozak made a spirited charge in the second half of the race but had to settle for bronze in 1:58.01.
Carrington has now won a remarkable 17 World Championship medals including ten golds in her stellar career. By striking gold she also ensured her country qualified a boat in the women’s K1 500m at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
The double gold medallist later returned to the water alongside Kayla Imrie, Aimee Fisher and Caitlin Ryan for the A Final of the women’s K4 500m.
The Kiwis had to settle for fourth but had the consolation of banking an Olympic spot in this discipline for the Tokyo 2020 Games.
Carrington said of winning the K1 500m and her second World Championship gold medal of the regatta:
“It was wicked. It is always scary going out there knowing this is my one chance every year where I have deliver my best performance. We had a strong headwind, which always makes things more challenging, and this added quite a few more seconds on to the race.
“I went out there, did the best I could and today I earned the rewards for all the hard training. It is an event that challenges me hugely, so it is great to be able to nail it.
“The K4 was really challenging,” she added of their fourth-place finish.
“We are racing the best crews in the world and to compete against them is pretty special. Today shows how big the challenge is leading into next year and I’m looking forward to stepping up to see how we can improve.”
Swimming
Kiwi swimmer Erika Fairweather has claimed gold at the Junior World Championships in Hungary, winning the 200-metre freestyle final.
Fairweather broke the New Zealand 15 years age record with her performance - a time of 1:57:96 - as she pipped Australian rival Lani Pallister by 0.13 seconds. Canada's Emma O'Croinin finished third.
The 15-year-old surprised the field with a quick start to the race, jumping out to an early lead in the first 50 metres and never let up, maintaining the lead for the remainder of the race.
Above: Erika Fairweather in Hungary
Athletics
Kiwi shot put star Tom Walsh has produced a stunning performance to claim victory at the Diamond League meet in Paris.
The reigning world champion collected his first Diamond League title of the year with a season's best throw of 22.44 metres.
That came on his first attempt, as the 27-year-old went on to deliver three further throws in excess off 22.00m (which was his own meeting record, set in 2016) - 22.10, 22.21 and 22.31.
“Very happy with my 1st comp of my build up to #doha2019. 4 throws over 22.10 not a bad day at the office,” Walsh posted on Instagram.
Above: Tom Walsh in Paris
Pole-vaulter Eliza McCartney also competed but was unable to clear 4.25m in her three attempts.
On the track Nick Willis finished 14th in the 1500m, in a time of 3:37.33, which was a season's best for the 36-year-old.
Rowing
Rowing NZ's Elite team have completed their first day of racing at the World Rowing Championships in Linz, Austria. Amidst perfectly flat water conditions, 11 crews contested heats with 8 progressing straight to quarter-final races and 3 moving to repechage races.
Among the highlights of day one was Emma Twigg placing first in her heat of the women’s single sculls and progressing to the quarter-final.
Grace Prendergast and Kerri Gowler placed first in their heat of the women’s pair and move to the quarter-final.
Zoe McBride and Jackie Kiddle placed first in their heat of the lightweight women’s double and progress to the quarter-final.
Matthew Dunham and Harrison Somerville placed first in their lightweight men’s double heat and move to the quarter-final.
Robbie Manson placed second in his men’s single heat and moves to the quarter-final.
Above: Grace Prendergast and Kerri Gowler competing in Linz
Basketball
The Tall Blacks have gone down 88-78 to world No 4 Serbia in their penultimate World Cup build-up match.
In their second outing at the four nations tournament the Kiwis were unable to match the Serbians, with the tall Europeans winning the rebound count 43-28.
The New Zealanders now take on world No 13 Italy before the team departs for Nanjing ahead of their opening World Cup clash against Brazil on September 1st.
Cycling
Track cyclist Rushlee Buchanan has claimed two Omnium podiums in two days at the Japan Track Cup.
“Racing aside, the people and country of Japan are beautiful. It has also been an honor to race in the Keirin School grounds and see this amazing place,” said Buchanan on Instagram.
And finally…
New Zealand now has 3 World Title holders in Underwater Hockey! Gold in U19 womens, U19 men and U24 women’s and Bronze in the U24 men's.
Also congratulations to the NZ Black Dragons for bringing home 1 gold, 2 silver and a bronze at the Dragon Boat World Champs in Thailand.