New Zealand's Olympic champion kayaker Lisa Carrington remains on course for the perfect World Cup season after winning gold in the K1 500m final in Denmark.
Medalists of the women's K1 500m event (L-R): Rachel Cawthorne (GBR), Lisa Carrington (NZL), Yu Zhou (CHN) in Copenhagen, Denmark at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Cup. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The world champion then comfortably reached the final in tonight's K1 200m at the year's third World Cup near Copenhagen.
It means Carrington is within reach of her fifth gold medal in five finals over the last three weeks of racing, though more importantly for the 25-year-old is the manner in which she's racing.
"It was tough conditions out there, being a bit cooler, so I had to really pace the race," Carrington said.
"I've learned a lot - having these races on consecutive weekends has been quite intense but I've really enjoyed the experience and now I can take what I've learned and move on to the world champs, which is the big one."
The World Championships in Italy in August also double as a qualifying event for next year's Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
Carrington was the only paddler to break 2 minutes in the K1 500 final, recording 1min 59.588secs into a head wind.
British paddler Rachel Cawthorn was nearly a second adrift in second place, clocking 2:00.476, while China's Yu Zhou finished in 2:01.028.
The other New Zealander at the third world cup, Titahi Bay's Marty McDowell, finished eighth in the A final of the K1 1000m, fading at the end but giving coach Gordon Walker plenty to work on.
"Three regattas in three weeks has certainly been tough but at the same time, very revealing," Walker said.
"Marty knows the areas he has to work on and if he can string some good consecutive weeks of training together, he has a chance come worlds."
Carrington's K1 200m final will start at 8.39pm (NZ time) tonight.
The New Zealand team is racing for the third and final week in a row, after World Cup events in Portugal and Germany.
