Tokyo Olympics: Kiwi Lisa Carrington wins third consecutive Olympic K1 200 gold medal

Kiwi Lisa Carrington has created Olympic history, scooping two canoe sprint gold medals in as many hours at Tokyo's Sea Forest Waterway.

First, the two-time defending champion won her third consecutive gold in the K1 200, then returned to the course with Caitlin Regal to repeat the effort in the K2 500.

Her second victory of the day - and fourth ever - draws her level with fellow kayaker Ian Ferguson, who won four titles over a variety of events at Los Angeles 1984 and Seoul 1988.

She also becomes the first Kiwi to win the same event three times in succession and has the chance to add more, when she contests the K1 500 and K4 500 later in the week.

Carrington also won bronze in the K1 500 at Rio.

The 32-year-old won her heat in the K1 200 on Monday, automatically qualifying for the semi-final on Tuesday - which she also won in an Olympic-best time of 38.127s - almost two seconds faster than her previous mark set five years ago.

Starting in lane five - the middle of the field - Carrington simply powered out of the blocks and never gave her opponents a chance, drawing away with every stroke to finish in 38.120s, shaving a few thousandths of a second off her previous Games best.

Almost a boat length back, Spaniard Teresa Perotella capped a remarkable comeback - she raced the final in the ninth lane, after deadheating for the final qualifying spot - to grab silver in 38.883s, with Emma Aastrand Jorgensen taking bronze.

Quickly switching into recovery mode, Carrington received her gold medal and join Regal on the water to prepare for the two-seat event.

Again, the Kiwi duo rocketed out of the blocks and established a handy 0.69s lead over their rivals by halfway - but could they hang on?

The answer was an emphatic 'yes', with the final margin extending to almost a second, as they finished in 1m 35.785s, again beating the Games best they set in the morning's semi-finals.

Poland grabbed the silver medal, barely holding out the fast-finishing Hungarians.

"There's always a plan, but it's a different thing to execute it," Carrington told Sky Sport. "It was a huge challenge to stick to the plan through the day and I was just fortunate to have Caitlin as a an amazing teammate.

"I'm so proud of her and our team."

For all the Olympics victories she's achieved over the years, this was Carrington's first as part of a team. She and Regal combined for a world K2 500 title in 2017.

"Even getting an Olympic medal is so special," said Carrington "I know how hard that is from what I've done as an individual, but now to get it on a team and to get on top of the podium is so special."

Carrington and Regal are back on the water again on Wednesday for K1 500 heats.