Dame Lisa Carrington has landed her seventh Olympic medal, her sixth gold, with the women's K4 500 crew as they won their final at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The combination of Carrington, Alicia Hoskin, Olivia Brett and Tara Vaughan edged out Germany for gold at Vaires sur Marne Nautical Stadium late on Thursday (NZ time).
New Zealand began with a strong lead as the race kicked off, but the Germans snuck up on them as they approached the 250m mark.
Germany edged out in front to set up a thrilling finish, but Carrington's crew were too quick and got to the line in 1m and 32s.
Carrington, 35, came to the Paris Games with five gold medals and a bronze, making her New Zealand's most successful Olympian.
It was the first Olympic medal for the other three members of the crew, taking New Zealand's medal tally to 12.
Dame Lisa Carrington told Sky Sport the victory was an "incredibly special moment".
"It's surreal, we've all worked as hard as we could. You just don't know when you line up. You never know what the result is going to be. It's amazing when you can come through as we have."
She added in a later interview: "To win this race is incredible, we have to have four girls doing the same thing at the same time.
"We really put in the hard work and I am proud of the team."
Lisa Carrington, Alicia Hoskin, Olivia Brett and Tara Vaughan claimed the title after a thrilling battle with Germany in the final. (Source: 1News)
Alicia Hoskin told Sky Sport the plan was to "stay in our own boat".
"We’ve got to trust our strategy, we’ve got to trust the girls here. We’ve got to trust all the stuff we’ve prepared for. We just put all our focus into that. We really trusted and it came through at the end. Just so proud. It takes a lot of courage to do that. Really happy."
Carrington took home three gold medals in Tokyo in 2021 in the women's K1 200, K1 500, and K2 500 with Caitlin Regal, and she is on track to secure two more medals over the next couple of days.
First up, she teams with Alicia Hoskin in the K2 500m. The duo's semifinal is set to race on Friday at 9pm (NZ time), and the final will follow at 11.10pm.
On the regatta's final day, Carrington will be up against fellow Kiwi paddler Aimee Fisher in the K1 500m race for medals.
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