New Zealand's greatest Olympian joins Mike Hosking in studio to talk her success, what drives her to be the best and her venture into writing a kid's book. Video | Newstalk ZB
Dame Lisa Carrington has provided an insight into what made her the most dominant Olympian in New Zealand history.
“If I thought that winning a gold medal was my best, I would have stopped in London. I would have stopped after Rio, I would have stopped after Tokyo.”
Figuring out what that dream is exactly was challenging but she said a good coach and teammates were key.
Carrington relies heavily on Gordon Walker, her long-time coach who has been Halberg Coach of the Year five times and named Coach of the Decade in 2021, to plan out the canoe sprint training programme and campaign, and as a mentor as well.
“He has a huge influence on my performance,” she told Hosking. “You can be coached by anyone [but] I think you’ve got to really understand what you need and how people can help you. You’ve got to figure out what you can do for them and have an aligned vision of where you want to go.”
Olympic champion Dame Lisa Carrington in the Newstalk ZB studio with host Mike Hosking. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Pushed for an answer on her future in the sport, Carrington refused to give too much away. Asked if it would bother her to compete if she wasn’t at her best physically, she struggled to find the words.
“I don’t know. I think right now being in the position I am, you know, being the fastest I’ve ever been, the strongest, whatever, it is hard to think ‘oh, maybe I’ll stop now’ because, well, what else is there? So, I don’t know, maybe.
“I think to be honest it has to be a different thing. Every Olympics is different and if I go to the next stage of life, it’s almost like you have to, it has to be about something else so the challenge has to be different. Maybe the challenge is so big at the next one that I can’t be the best.”
While the waters revealing Carrington’s future remain murky, she is currently wading into the publishing realm having released her first book, Lisa Carrington Chases a Champion.
She hopes the story will inspire young people and says it provides insights into building physical and mental strength, and how to keep motivated and persevere when the going gets tough.
“So it’s really about the journey of 8-year-old Lisa having a goal and the journey of achieving it and that comes with little challenges and ways to kind of come back to it,” she said.
“I hope to do a couple more children’s books so at the end I kind of share that there’s another journey, so it keeps you on the edge of your seat.”
