Five-time Olympic Games gold medallist Lisa Carrington is once again a world champion, securing her third world K1 500m title.
The 33-year-old was tested to simply qualify as New Zealand's entrant into the event, edging out a three-race tie against 2021 world champion Aimee Fisher in a series that capturedthe attention of Kiwi sports fans back in April.
But in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia in the early hours of Sunday morning (NZ time), Carrington was in a league of her own. Made to work hard for the gold by the strong headwind, Carrington ultimately paddled across the line in 1min58.69sec - more than a second faster than second-placed Annamaria Govorcinovic of Croatia, with Germany's Jule Hake third.
"We knew it was going to be a headwind all week, so I was definitely prepared, it's just about having that mindset about how to strategically paddle into that headwind," Carrington said following her win.
"There's still lots to learn from, like today continuously putting myself into a position where I have to rise up to the challenge, or take some opportunities or some learnings from it, so every moment of pressure is a great learning opportunity."
Earlier in the day, Carrington came agonisingly close to another podium as she and the K4 500m crew of Alicia Hoskin, Olivia Brett and Tara Vaughan had to settle for fifth in their final.
While Poland were clear ahead to take the win, a mere 0.6sec separated second and fifth places.
