Carrington wins second medal in Rio

Lisa Carrington called on her sprinting ability to win a bronze medal in the K1 500 today.

Carrington, already a kayaking gold medallist in the K1 200 at these Olympics, trailed at the field at the halfway point today, but put in a withering finishing burst to storm back into the medal reckoning.

The race was won in decisive fashion by Dunula Kozak of Hungary in 1min 52.94s. Emma Jorgensen of Denmark hung on for second in 1min 54.326s and Carrington flashed home third in 1min 54.374s.

Carrington, 27, notched up some notable milestones today. Because she also won the K 1 200 in London four years ago, she has now become only the third New Zealand woman, following Barbara Kendall and Valerie Adams, to win three Olympic medals in total. She is also the first to win two medals at one Olympics.

She said she was delighted with her bronze medal. “It was such a hard race, very tough, and I am very happy,” she said.

Carrington said she was loving being involved in her kayaking.

“There is so much more I can do. It is scary and exciting at the same time. It is about keeping one foot in front of the other.

It is an amazing sport to be part of.”

Gordon Walker, Carrington’s coach, said that to get two medals at one Olympics was beyond most people’s dreams.

“She fights pretty hard all the time but that’s something she should be extremely proud of,” he said. “That last 200 is a testament to her character.”

He said she had prepared for back to back sprint races.

“We trained for that - backing it up after that first final to this is so impressive.”