Inside the Mind of Dame Lisa Carrington: NZ's Most Decorated Olympian

On this episode of Between two Beers we talk to Dame Lisa Carrington.

Lisa is New Zealand’s most successful Olympian of all time with five Olympic gold medals in the sprint Kayak, one bronze and 12 World Championship titles.

For over a decade, Lisa has been the best in the world at her sport and after listening to this conversation it will become clear why.

We go deep inside the mind of a champion, and talk about her relationship with self-doubt and high performance, why she hasn’t missed training in 13 years, and how she deals with race-day pressure. We also hear about her passport slip-ups, gym playlists, superstitions, the power of journalling, and all the best and most entertaining stories from a life on the road.

Seamus and I were mesmerized by this chat in places. It's so rare you get such an extended period of time to probe away at the inner workings of the very best in the world, and Lisa’s discipline, thought process, and ability to articulate how she succeeds was really, really cool.

Show notes | Episode 116 | Dame Lisa Carrington

2:05 Halberg Awards, table seating, and wardrobe malfunctions
6:40 A loose circle: gym playlists, red sunglasses, claiming the master bedroom
12:38 Lisa and her passport
18:50 Consistency
20:52 The early years in Whakatane
29:13 “…she uses kayaking to be a better person…”
33:08 Lisa’s attitude to training
40:30 Inside the mind of a champion: Tokyo 2021
47:08 Dealing with self-doubt
52:23 Winning the gold medal to become New Zealand’s most decorated Olympian
55:31 Lisa on coaching and building on your foundations
1:01:42 The power of journaling
1:04:24 Covid chat
1:08:44 What’s next?
1:10:19 Being in the hurt locker
1:14:11 A night out after the gold medal in London
1:18:55 Fame (here and abroad)
1:22:22 Recognising accolades
1:26:06 Last words from Steve, Seamus and Lisa