22 Aug 2011

Carrington makes dream come true at World Champs

8:40 am on 22 August 2011

New Zealand's newest World Champion Lisa Carrington says she's made her dreams come true after winning the K1 200 final at the Canoe Sprint World Championships in Hungary to become the first New Zealand kayaker to qualify for next year's London Olympics.

The 22-year-old, who is also the first New Zealand women to win gold in a World Championship event, lined up against 54 other nations to face off for direct qualification for London.

The K1 200m is new to the Olympic programme in 2012 and Carrington says pulling on the silver fern in London will be the proudest moment of her young career.

Carrington won the final in a time of 39:998 seconds, beating highly rated Polish and Ukrainian opponents into the minor placings.

The last time the New Zealand anthem rang out at the medal ceremony at the World Champs was for Ben Fouhy becoming World Champion in the K1 1000m in 2003.