Olympics: Fans brought to tears by Carrington

Fans from Whakatane welcome gold medalist Lisa Carrington. Photo / Richard Robinson

Olympic gold medal-winning kayaker Lisa Carrington brought tears to her supporters' eyes when she arrived home to New Zealand this morning.

The 23-year-old had the much of the country, especially in her native Ohope, ecstatic when she finished ahead of the pack in the inaugural K1 200m canoe sprint at the London Olympics.

"I don't think it's really sunk in just yet but I'm pretty happy with how everything went,'' she told reporters at Auckland International Airport today.

"To look back and think I was the first one (to win gold in the event) and will always be the first one is pretty cool.''

She had a holiday in Spain before returning home today, the first time she's been home for three and a half months.

"It's good just coming in, I was getting butterflies. It' s nice to be home, pretty special,'' she said.

"It's going to be nice just to be able to eat something different instead of the same old muesli bars. I'm looking forward to a really good coffee and maybe some Burger Fuel.''

Carrington's grandmother Doreen cried as she hugged her at the airport.

"One of the things about Lisa is she never gossiped about or talked about the other athletes and she's never boasted about what she's done. She was deserving of it. She's worked so hard and given up so much of her life, social life and so on.

"We are proud of her, all of us as a family.''

Proud mother Glynis Carrington told APNZ her daughter's level head was the reason for her success.

"She's always been one to achieve her goals. We absolutely admire her - her hard work, her dedication, her being able to rise up and above challenges - she's just been been able to do it for herself.''

The 53kg paddler, up to 20kg lighter than some of her rivals, was able to use her power-to-weight ratio to good effect.

In around 100 strokes she pushed the favourite, Natasa Douchev-Janics of Hungary, to bronze.