New Zealand have bolted to an historic gold medal triumph in the women's K4 at the canoe sprint world championships in Germany.
With now 14-time champion Dame Lisa Carrington at the helm, backed by Olivia Brett, Tara Vaughan, and Alica Hoskin, the crew became the first K4 team - men's or women's - to clinch a world title.
The result also clinches the boat's qualification for next year's Paris Olympics.
"I'm just so proud of them," Carrington said after the race. "We've worked so hard. This is what teamwork does."
The New Zealanders crossed the line with a time of 1m 30.606s, with Poland trailing just under a second behind, and Spain rounding out the podium places.
"That was an absolute masterclass of a performance from our women," said Nathan Luce, general manager of performance at Canoe Racing NZ.
"It was an outstanding race. They made history here tonight. Rising to the occasion and delivering an incredible performance."
However there was disappointment for their compatriots in the men's K4 crew, with Max Brown, Zach Ferkins, Kurtis Imrie and Hamish Legarth failing to advance to the 500m A final, ending their Olympic qualification hopes.
The team were fourth in their semi-final when a top-three result was required to earn a spot in the 9 boat A final. Agonisingly, their time of 1m 19.864s was the sixth fastest semi-final time.
The NZ men’s kayak team will turn their attention to qualifying K1 and K2 boats for Paris at the Oceania Championships in Penrith in March.
Carrington will be back on the water on Saturday (NZ time), looking to earn her 19th World Championship medal in the K1 500m A final at 10:21pm.
