Kayak queen hints at calling it quits
Carrington: ‘It’s just a matter of figuring out how much longer I want to do it and I haven’t made a decision’
Champion paddler Lisa Carrington has hinted the Tokyo Olympics could be her last. Having won gold in the K1 200m event at the London and Rio de Janeiro Olympics, Carrington will seek to become the first New Zealander to win three Olympic gold medals in a row in the same sport.
On top of that mission, she will compete in the K1 500m — in which she won bronze in 2016 — as well as the K2 500m and K4 500m events in Tokyo.
Caitlin Regal will join the 31-yearold in the K2 500, which the pairing of Teneale Hatton and Alicia Hoskin will also contest, before the quartet combine for the K4 500.
Carrington says she’s unsure if she will draw the curtain on her career after competing for what will be potentially four further Olympic gold medals.
She said the thought of retiring was “kind of there”.
“Every now and then, I think ‘this might be my last time at home paddling on the water’ or that type of thing,” Carrington said.
“But it’s just a matter of figuring out how much longer I want to do it and I haven’t really made a decision or put much thought into it.”
Instead, Carrington will leave that decision for after the Games.
While also acknowledging there will be lasts, Carrington yesterday enjoyed a first — it was the first time she had been part of a team-naming ceremony when the Olympic crew was revealed.
She doesn’t recall having one before her debut in London 2012, while the one before Rio was more low-key.
Carrington says she has learned to enjoy the little moments.
“I’ve started to appreciate the support, my teammates, their supporters, and it’s just exciting to know there’s a lot of people as part of these performances.”
Carrington will face a tough schedule at Tokyo.
The women’s K1 200 and K2 500 races are on the same day, with heats and quarter-finals on August 2, and the semifinals and finals the following day.
The final for the K1 200 is scheduled to start at 11.35am (Tokyo time), with the medal presentation at 12.05pm and the K2 500m final set for 12.55pm.
And the K1 500 programme will be contested over the next two days, followed by the K4 500 in the final two days of canoe sprint competition.
“It’ll just be about being careful to manage the energy through the week and recover well.
We’ve got a great team and lots of people supporting us to get through,” said Carrington. “We didn’t dream this up overnight, it’s something we’ve been thinking about for a long time, so it’s just the belief we can do it. It’s definitely going to be a lot of ice baths over there. We can’t do much, so recovery, lying down, hanging out, hydration, good food, playing cards and just preparing for the task.”