The golden glow is back on New Zealand's Olympic campaign thanks to another fabulous canoe sprint triumph for Lisa Carrington on Tuesday (Wednesday NZ Time).

Smoke on the water and with a golden hue off it, Carrington is now a double Olympic champion in the fast and furious canoe sprint they call the K1 200m − and there was never really any doubt about it as she extended her unbeaten streak in the event at the global level to 13 regattas.

Carrington's reputation as the Usain Bolt of her sport gained further credence as she backed up her London triumph in the mad dash with another fast-finishing masterpiece in Rio. It's the first part of what the powerful Kiwi hopes will be an historic double gold medal effort at these Games, with the K1 500m to follow.

The New Zealander looked as though she was up against it as Poland's Marta Walczykiewicz and Azerbaijan's Inna Osypenko-Radomska, the two big threats, bolted through the first 100m right on the Kiwi's pace on the Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon.

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TOM PENNINGTON/GETTY IMAGES Gold medalist Lisa Carrington celebrates with her parents in the stands after collecting her second Olympic gold medal.

It was game on at the halfway point, with conditions ideal for fast racing.

But then, as she does, Carrington stepped it up when it mattered. As those shoulders whirled in an explosion of transferred power, she was able to tap on her metaphorical accelerator over the second half to power clear to a decisive victory.

Carrington finished in 39.864 seconds, well clear of Walczykiewicz who took silver in 40.279 seconds and Osypenko-Radomska who claimed the bronze with 40.401 seconds. Victory was actually comfortable given the sport's rapid-fire nature.

DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS New Zealand gold medallist Lisa Carrington (centre), with silver medallist Marta Walczykiewicz of Poland (left) and bronze medallist Inna Osypenko of Azerbaijan.

Carrington revealed she knew little about how the race unfolded, including where she was travelling or even if she'd won.

"It's so hard to see. I felt like I was in front when I crossed the line, but I had to wait," she told NZ Newswire.

"It was very cool when my name came up."

Carrington sensed the finish was tight. She switched on the peripheral vision momentarily with 50m to go and could tell boats in the three other centre lanes were hovering.

"I really just wanted to perform awesome today," she told Sky Sport afterwards. "I really wanted it. But I'm just happy to have raced kind of a representation of the last four years, and longer than that. I'm just stoked."

Carrington becomes the second woman to defend an Olympic title in a singles boat, matching the K1 500m deeds of Soviet paddler Lyudmila Pinayeva in 1968.

DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS Lisa Carrington became just the fourth New Zealand woman to win two Olympic gold medals.

Fittingly, she received her gold medal from champion Kiwi boardsailer and current IOC athletes' representative Barbara Kendall, who has a full set of Olympic medals won between 1992 and 2000.

The power-packed Carrington admitted she had been "pretty nervous" before the race as the enormity of it all had struck her.

She said she had exchanged some special words with runner-up Walczykiewicz on the pontoon afterwards.

TOM PENNINGTON/GETTY IMAGES Gold medallist Lisa Carrington (right) with silver medalist Marta Walczykiewicz of Poland.

"We were just so happy for each other," she told Sky Sport. "She's so quick, she's amazing. I'm happy for her. In London she didn't medal but this time to see her on the podium is pretty special," she added.

She also reflected on an ideal four years of preparation under the tutelage of master coach Gordon Walker.

"It was fairly tough. We are trying all the time to get better. It's hard because we just keep pushing those boundaries to see how much more can I do, how much faster can I go, how much stronger can I get.

MORNING REPORT/Radio New Zealand Kayaker Lisa Carringon has won New Zealand's third gold at the Olympics. And the 49 sailors Blair Tuke and Peter Burling are assured of gold with two races to go. We cross to our team in Rio for the latest.

"Out there I'm trying to just beat myself."

NEW ZEALAND UP TO 13TH

The victory is New Zealand's third gold medal of the Rio Games, with all of them coming on the water following on from the successes of rowing pair Hamish Bond and Eric Murray and single sculler Mahe Drysdale. New Zealand moved to 13th on the medal table.

REUTERS Lisa Carrington was all smiles after collecting her second Olympic gold medal in the women's K1 200m.

The Kiwis have also picked up six silver medals - trap shooter Natalie Rooney, the men's sprint cyclists, women's rowing pair, the sevens women, canoe slalom paddler Luuka Jones and shot putter Valerie Adams.

The 27-year-old Auckland-based Tauranga paddler had come into the final not only as the form paddler of the regatta with the quickest semifinal time of 39.56 seconds, but also as the most dominant female K1 sprinter on the planet.

Her last defeat over the 200m dash had been in May of 2012, and since then she has won Olympic gold in London, world championship titles in 2013, 2014 and 2015, and nine world cup events in total, including two in this year's Rio buildup.

TOM PENNINGTON/GETTY IMAGES New Zealand's Lisa Carrington has won a second straight gold in the K1 200m canoe sprint at the Rio Olympics.

Now she has become just the third New Zealand female athlete to claim back-to-back Olympic gold in the same event, following on from the Evers-Swindell twins in the double sculls (2004 and 2008) and Valerie Adams in shot put (2008 and 2012).

Carrington found it hard to explain why she is keeping better-resourced rivals at bay in a sport which is highly rated in eastern Europe. One reason is a tight, no-frills relationship with coach Gordon Walker.

"I think we've got a really good formula. We're just always trying to improve and get better," she told NZ Newswire.

"Taking small steps is something we work on, covering all our bases."

CHANCE AT HISTORY

Carrington is considered a great chance to double her gold tally at these Games when she lines up in the K1 500m which gets under way with heats on Wednesday (Thursday NZT).

If she is to prevail in that she would become the first Kiwi female athlete to win three Olympic golds.

"I'll go back to my apartment and get ready for the next day," she told NZ Newswire.

"It's fine, this is what I came for. It's nice to get halfway through the programme, get the 200m done, and obviously move on."

She has not been as dominant over the longer distance as she has been over 200m, but won the world title in Duisburg last year and is considered a hot prospect to prevail in what is expected to be a compelling heat-to-head battle against Hungary's Danuta Kozak.

"I'm looking to just embrace the moment," Carrington said of part two of her Rio challenge. "Right now I've got to take it all in, and acknowledge what's happened. It's going to be hard to come down off this but I've got heats and semis tomorrow."

MOST GLITTERING NZ FEMALE OLYMPIANS

THREE MEDALS

Valerie Adams, athletics (gold 2008, gold 2012, silver 2016)

Barbara Kendall, board sailing (gold 1992, silver 1996, bronze 2000)

TWO MEDALS

Lisa Carrington, canoeing (gold 2012, gold 2016)

Georgina and Caroline Evers-Swindell, rowing (gold 2004, gold 2008)

Rebecca Scown, rowing (silver 2016, bronze 2012)

Vicki Latta, equestrian (silver 1992, bronze 1996)

- Stuff, NZN

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