While cartons of apples can never be accurately pitched against cartons of oranges, there is already a case to be made that the 32-year-old Carrington is New Zealand’s greatest female Olympian.

Another medal at Tokyo might not necessarily cement that status, but it would add to a compelling case to pit against Valerie Adams, the Evers-Swindell twins, Sarah Ulmer, Barbara Kendall and the pioneer, Yvette Williams.

As a fresh-faced sprint kayaker with guns straight out of a Gold’s Gym advertisement, Carrington powered to gold in London and followed that up with a gold in the K-1 200m in Rio and bronze in the K-1 500m, making her the first woman in New Zealand Olympic history to claim multiple medals at a single games.
 

Carrington is ferociously single-minded. While she makes occasional appearances in the women's mags, the Ohope athlete has rarely embraced a public profile, preferring the actions-speak-louder-than-words approach. You cannot argue with the results.