Kayak Singles, 200 metres, Women

This was the third appearance of this event, which replaced the men’s C-2 500 metres in 2012. The clear favourite was the seven-time reigning world champion, and the defending two-time Olympic champion, Lisa Carrington of New Zealand.

This was the first discipline in Tokyo for Carrington, who had set an ambitious goal to not only win the K-1 200m for a third Games in a row, but also to win gold in all four women’s kayak disciplines. Her main rivals were expected to be Marta Walczkiewicz of Poland, silver medallist at the Rio Olympics and regular medallist at the World Championships, and Emma Jørgensen of Denmark, the 2018 World Championship silver medallist. All the favourites easily qualified first into the semis and then next day into the A Final.

In the A Final, Carrington confidently took the lead and finished breaking her own Olympic best time, which she just set a few hours earlier in the semi-final. Spain’s Teresa Portela won the silver medal and Jørgensen finished third. Portela became the first Spanish female athlete in history to compete at six Olympic Games, since her début at Sydney in 2000. By winning her first medal she also became the first Spanish woman to win an Olympic canoe sprint medal. Interestingly, the first five places from the A Final all qualified from the same semi-final.

Carrington not only won this event for the third time, but looks likely to be the only winner of K-1 200, as it will not be raced at Paris in 2024. Shortly after winning the K-1 200m race, Carrington won Olympic gold again in the K-2 500m race with Caitlin Regal.