Paris 2024 Olympics - Sprint Canoe - Women's Kayak Single 500m Final A - Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium - Flatwater, Vaires-sur-Marne, France - August 10, 2024. Lisa Carrington of New Zealand reacts. REUTERS/Molly Darlington
PARIS (Reuters) -New Zealand's Lisa Carrington completed a stunning clean sweep of gold medals in her Olympic events at by winning the women's kayak single 500 metres title in her third and final competition at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium on Saturday.
Hungary's Tamara Csipes came second to take the silver medal, with Denmark's Emma Aastrand Jorgensen picking up the bronze. Carrington grabbed victory after another manifestation of her strong stroking and stubborn will to win.
In the men's kayak single 1000m race, Josef Dostal of the Czech Republic pulled off an incredible victory, holding off the strong late challenge of silver medallist Hungary's Adam Varga and Balint Kopasz, who won gold in Tokyo but had to be content with bronze in Paris.
In the final race of the Olympic regatta, Canada’s Katie Vincent won the women’s 200m canoe single race by one-hundredth of a second from American Nevin Harrison, with Cuba’s Cirilo Duboys picking up the bronze.
After a strong start Harrison’s slender lead evaporated over the last 50 metres, allowing Vincent to snatch victory after a photo finish.
Carrington, often called "The GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) In The Boat" back home, closed out her Olympics by blazing to the win in the solo race in an Olympic record 1:47.36 to add to the golds she won in the kayak four and double events.
Hungary's Csipes put the Kiwi under enormous pressure, briefly taking the lead, but Carrington came roaring back to win by just over a second, with Jorgensen edging out New Zealand's Aimee Fisher to take the bronze medal.
Saturday's gold was Carrington's eighth Games triumph, making her by far the most successful New Zealand Olympian.
"The Olympics has given me so much more than medals, I don't think you can calculate how much I've learned and grown over the last five years, or whatever it's been," an elated Carrington said.
"I think it was just really sticking to my plan, and it's really hard to do that when you're out there and the girls are so strong, so I just had to be super-disciplined and trust my fitness in the back end of the race."
The men's race got off to a flying start as Portugal's Fernando Pimenta took the lead, but his challenge faded as Kopasz and Dostal reeled him in.
Dostal then edged in front, paddling frenetically to hold off a late surge from the Hungarian pair to claim the gold in a time of 3:24.07, 0.69 seconds ahead of Varga.
(Reporting by Philip O'Connor; Editing by Ken Ferris and Christian Radnedge)
