Lisa Carrington celebrates her gold in the K1 500m - one of three events she won in Tokyo. Photo / Getty Images
Lisa Carrington celebrates her gold in the K1 500m - one of three events she won in Tokyo. Photo / Getty Images
Lisa Carrington believes the sport of kayaking is headed for even more success, in the wake of New Zealand's amazing Tokyo campaign.
Carrington and the K4 500m crew missed out on a podium finish on Saturday, finishing fourth in the ultra-competitive event.
There had been hopes of a medal –especially when New Zealand had the third-fastest semifinal time – but it was always going to be tough for the relatively new crew and they couldn't find an extra gear in the second 250m.
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But Carrington, who departs Japan with three gold medals, feels there are more good times to come.
As well as the K4 fourth, Max Brown and Kurtis Imrie achieved a head-turning fifth in the men's K2 100m, after placing 15th at the most recent World Championships, while Carrington and Caitlin Regal achieved New Zealand's first K2 gold since 1988.
"We have had great success in the past in our sport and we draw a lot from those athletes but it is awesome to be able to use the momentum, especially in the last decade, and keep pushing," Carrington told Sky Sport.
"To think we just keep pushing, since I became world champion in 2011, and [now it's] 2021. It's amazing to have these girls and the results we have had.
"It was amazing to watch our boys out there on Thursday and they have been here supporting us and vice versa so our sport is in a really cool, exciting place.
"We have to keep working hard to have a good team; we have to be at our best to compete against the world."
Carrington was philosophical about Saturday's final, where New Zealand were edged by 0.723 seconds for bronze by Poland, with Hungary and Belarus the top two.
"Look, it was epic to be out there, to be honest," said Carrington. "We were so excited, you know the last two days of our Olympics, to be out there and do it together. It's such a tough field, we were just so excited just to be racing the rest of the world."
Lisa Carrington, Alicia Hoskin, Caitlin Regal and Teneale Hatton in the final of the K4 500m final. Photo / Getty Images
And while the 32-year-old has attained unprecedented individual glory, Carrington emphasised that she was only one piece of the puzzle.
"The whole week is a package," she said. "The success earlier in the week is really the success of our whole team. We couldn't have done anything earlier this week without these girls here and the team who stay dry.
"It's been an epic six days. But we have been working hard for a very long time. It's nice to look back and be proud of what we have done."
Fellow gold medallist Regal said the pouring rain during the final had made things tough.
"It rained pretty much two minutes before we got on the line and you know the back two, for us it's really important to be wearing our glasses because you just get so wet back there," said Regal. "But I mean it doesn't change the race, you get the job done."
Regal was disappointed to miss the podium but echoed Carrington's views about the strength of the collective.
"It's been a long campaign and we have been through thick and thin together," said Regal.
"This is the strongest team we have ever had. These girls are so important and that is why it is so emotional...this journey has been up and down, this week has been emotional."
The final word went to rookie Alicia Hoskin, the 21-year-old from Gisborne who has burned through the ranks in recent years.
"The scoreboard is one way to measure success but we're just really proud of the way we helped each other as a team and how we represented the fern. For the first Games, it was pretty awesome."
