Olivi Brett, Lisa Carrington, Alicia Hoskin, Tara Vaughan from New Zealand win gold in the women’s four final. Paris 2024. Photo: Iain McGregor / www.photosport.nz
Dame Lisa Carrington may have won her sixth Olympic gold medal today but the emphasis afterwards was very much about the four members of the crew.
The New Zealand team of Carrington, Alicia Hoskin, Olivia Brett and Tara Vaughan fought an epic battle in the K4 final before clinching gold.
That was Carrington's sixth gold medal and seventh in total, but her first in the K4 boat.
"To win this is incredible, we have four girls doing the same thing at the same time, its special, its hard work.
"We just nailed it, it doesn't just happen, we really worked for it."
While there were four in the crew there is no doubt that Carrington was the driving force behind the boat and few would argue that they could have done it without the 35-year-old.
Carrington was impressed with what they managed to put out on the water in the final.
"It's pretty incredible to even be able to execute the race we were wanting to do.
"We managed to do in the toughest moments, so it's an amazing feeling.
Olivia Brett, Dame Lisa Carrington, Alicia Hoskin, Tara Vaughan from New Zealand win gold in the women’s four final. Paris 2024. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Olivia Brett was one of the new members of the squad, having been a part of the four for the last 2.5 years.
"It's been a cool journey since we started together and we've moved through those two and a half years in a really cool way as a team.
"To get the end result today is pretty special and we did it as a team so it's epic."
The Kiwis had to find something special after losing the lead to the Germans at the halfway point.
Tara Vaughn was unaware of the challenge from the Germans.
"I had no idea what was happening during the race. We knew that we had to stick to our plan and our strengths, and I didn't know what we came when we crossed the line. I had to ask the girls."
However Hoskin knew they had to dig deep over the final 250m.
"Our bodies are hurting and we're putting it all on the line so we're just grateful that we have the trust in our team.
"If there is anyone we're going to do it for it's each other and for New Zealand so being really connected to our 'why' is what gets us through the line when it's really hurting."
It was also some relief after she and Carrington came fourth in this boat at the Tokyo Olympics.
"We learnt a lot from Tokyo. It really is an evolving thing, and we have worked incredibly hard on all the things that can make a difference, and it was really nice to see that come together today."
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The Māori artwork on the front of their boat emphasized the togetherness of the K4 crew.
The weaving of the four strands signified the importance of the four paddlers working as one, Carrington explained.
"The stronger you weave the tighter the rope is, which means for us it's how do we work together.
"We're all from different places, different families and so for us that is really important," she said.
"We were lucky to have our boat blessed and named before we got here so our boat is Purapura Whetu which is star dust which represents all the nations to bring our culture to Paris.
Carrington has two more races in the K2 (with Hoskin) and the K1 against team-mate Aimee Fisher.
"Every race is different and I think it's all about being in the moment so every time we're out there we've just got to give it our all."
And you may have noticed that all four paddlers had the same hair style while racing.
Hoskin said it was a nice thing to do together on the morning of the race to keep themselves occupied.