New Zealand Olympic canoeist Lisa Carrington created history this year as she easily defended her K1 200m title at the Canoe Racing World Championships in Milan.
New Zealander Lisa Carrington can claim the title of best female paddler in the world. Photo: RNZ / Diego Opatowski
It was the 26-year-old Whakatane paddler's fourth consecutive world title over that distance, adding to the K1 500m crown she collected for the first time earlier in the meet.
The list of Carrington's milestones is now significant.
Carrington's two wins this year take her overall world championship gold medal haul to five, which means she passes Paul MacDonald as New Zealand's most successful world championship canoe racer.
She joins MacDonald as the only New Zealander to win two golds at the same world championship meet, and she is the first women in 16 years - and only the third in history - to hold both the 200m and 500m titles at the same time. She is also unbeaten at the shorter race, since before the last Olympics.
This year, then, showcased her dominance and confirmed her status as the best female paddler in the world.
The reigning Olympic 200m champion is a firm favourite to repeat her double win in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
RNZ sports reporter Joe Porter caught up with Carrington to discuss her record breaking 2015 and the challenge of defending her Olympic gold.
