Kiwi canoe sprinter Lisa Carrington has opened her Olympic defence in style with a comfortable win in her women's K1 200m heat in Tokyo this afternoon.
After a quick start got her half a boat-length ahead, Carrington won her heat with a time of 40.715 - 0.8 seconds ahead of ROC's Svetlana Chernigovskaya.
Carrington is looking to become a three-time Olympic champion in the K1 200m having previously won gold in London and Rio.
It kicks off a busy campaign for the 32-year-old who is also chasing medals in the K1 500m, K2 500m and K4 500m.
In winning her heat, Carrington has lightened her load slightly as the top two of each K1 200m heat advance straight to the semi-finals, skipping this evening's quarter-finals action.
Carrington will still be back on the water this afternoon though when she teams up with Caitlin Regal in the K2 500m heats.
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