New Zealand's Lisa Carrington, at the top of her game, in the kayak race event.

Lisa Carrington is not one to raise her fists in anger or scream with joy at the finish line, which she often crosses in first place at the end of kayak races. On Saturday, August 10, in the calm waters of the Seine-et-Marne nautical stadium, the New Zealander simply placed her hand on the hull of her boat as a thank-you gesture, in the manner of a rider petting his horse’s neck, after winning the final of the 500m K1 (single-seater kayak) race.

However, she could allow herself to have a little joy, as befits what she achieved during the Paris 2024 Games, where she aligned herself on three different distances in the kayak road races – the Olympic programme also includes canoe road races – where she won consecutively in the 200m K1, in the 500m two-seater or K2, and therefore on Saturday in the 500m K1.

Of New Zealand's 10 gold medals with just one day to go before the Olympics, four came from kayaking: three in kayak racing, with Lisa Carrington, and one in kayak, with Finn Butcher. Another hat trick of gold medals [« un nouveau triplé de médailles d’or »] »in reception New Zealand's leading daily newspaper, New Zealand HeraldOn his website confirming that “Mrs. Carrington” He repeated in the Ile-de-France region what was already an achievement in 2021 in Tokyo: an Olympic hat-trick.

“It's a UFO.”

Those six wins, plus victories in the 200m K1 at London 2012 and the 500m K1 at Rio 2016, put the Tauranga, North Island native in the very exclusive circle of eight Olympians who have won two titles at the Summer Games, in which only one kayaker has so far appeared, a native of the German Democratic Republic and then reunified Germany, Birgit Fischer.

But these calculations do not matter to the 35-year-old athlete, who did not shine at his first World Youth Championships, before choosing to abandon his other sporting passions: netball – a derivative of basketball – and coastal surfing. Since devoting all her time to kayaking, Lisa Carrington has imposed an intense training schedule and a high level of demands. In the K1 500m final, she showed tactical sense and amazing speed, overtaking the leading Hungarian boat at the halfway point to take the lead and never letting go until the finish line.

“It's going too fast.”, Her most dangerous opponent that day, silver medallist Tamara Sebes, reacted by landing more than a second behind the New Zealander in water that was as smooth on Saturday as it had been choppy the day before. Stormy conditions are all too common.'They deserved it. The Olympic site nicknamed Vent-sur-Marne!

“It's a UFO. », French kayaker Vanina Paoletti learns about the New Zealand champion. “Girls and boys alike, Lisa is, technically, the best rower in the world. She improves everything. But what impresses me most is that she is able, at a very high tempo, to open her hands with each stroke so as not to overload the forearms. She has great hand positions, and an exceptional reach., The athlete explains, amazed at her ability to put together races and win them. The tricolor offers an explanation: “She has such a big lead over the competition that she loses a little bit of energy in qualifying, whereas many of us have to be at full capacity all the time to get through each stage.”

Modesty is attached to the body

The person concerned shall deliver another: “It sounds simple, but it's not simple at all, we work hard in training to achieve this result. I just try to do my best.” Along with the unique record she builds from competition to competition, Lisa Carrington has given a face and perspective in her country to a sport in the shadow of rugby, cricket, sailing or more rowing. “By winning her first medals in London and then in Rio, she made kayaking more popular.”Sarah Walker, New Zealand member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and former BMX champion, testifies. She also lifts the national team. “It wins alone, but also in two-seater and four-seater cars, Vanina Paoletti confirms. Since she is so talented, New Zealand has taken the initiative to train young women to accompany her.

“She is known all over the country, but she remains very humble, trying to be the best and show what she can do.”The IOC representative is present at the Games site to present him with this new gold medal.

Added to this inherent modesty is her deep connection to her loved ones and her Maori heritage, which Lisa Carrington often mentions. But again, with a certain amount of restraint in public. On the other hand, in the privacy of her boat, she wears a green stone with a tribal motif around her neck. She explains: “They represent the guardians of my people.”Which honored her with many titles.