Olympic legend Dame Lisa Carrington Motherhood is on my mind'

As she spends the summer reflecting on her achievements and the possibility of retirement, the sporting legend admits she’s weighing up whether it’s time to start a family.

- SUZANNE MCFADDEN

This summer has evolved into a kind of second honeymoon for Dame Lisa Carrington and her husband Michael "Bucky" Buck. The couple have popped into corners of Aotearoa they've never been before, gone surfing, fished and swum with monster snapper, and relaxed with family and friends at their Ŏhope beach house.

They even snuck in a quick trip to Fiji, then on to Portugal, where Lisa received one of the highest honours in world sport. But Bucky jokes he isn't sure whether they even had a first honeymoon after they married on Ŏhope Beach in 2022, when New Zealand's greatest Olympian was deep in training for her next world canoe sprint championship and her fourth Games.

The world's fastest woman on water, Lisa usually finds it difficult to suddenly go slow. But this summer is different. For the first time, our queen of the kayak has returned from another successful Olympic campaign and been able to unwind, taking things slowly while she considers what's next in her unparalleled sporting career and whether it's time to start a family. Decisions, understandably, she wants to take her time mulling over.

Back in Paris in August, Lisa became the most successful Olympian in New Zealand sporting history, spectacularly clinching three more golds across the K1, K2 and K4 boats to bring her career total to nine medals.

Dubbed "the GOAT [greatest of all time] in a boat", she then returned home to Auckland, where she and Bucky were reunited with their beloved dog, four-year-old cavoodle Colin. "He's a cheeky version of myself," Lisa says. "He and Bucky are where all my love goes." The couple has since taken time to enjoy her success. They've toured the country promoting Lisa's first children's book, Lisa Carrington Chases a Champion, visiting parts of Aotearoa she'd never seen before.