The 32-year-old kayaker stormed to the title in a winning time of 1min 51.216sec as she completed a golden hat-trick in the Japanese capital.

The victory sees Carrington surpass fellow canoeist Ian Ferguson’s record haul of four golds and one silver to top New Zealand’s all-time medal standings with five golds and one bronze.

Having already won the K1 200m and K2 500m crowns in the Japanese capital, Carrington becomes only the third athlete to achieve three gold medals in canoe sprint at the same Games, joining Hungary's Danuta Kozák at Rio 2016 and Ferguson at Los Angeles 1984.

Carrington could add a six title and seventh Olympic medal as she is set to team up with Caitlin Regal, Alicia Hoskin and Teneale Hatton in the K4 500m race.

The New Zealander faced a showdown with Kozák who chasing a third K1 500m gold in what was billed as the "clash of the titans" by the International Canoe Federation.

Kozák has all-but dominated the event over the past nine years, triumphing at London 2012 and Rio 2016, only to come unstuck against Carrington at the 2019 World Championships.

The defeat raised question marks over whether Kozák could win a third successive Olympic gold in the discipline.

Carrington also got the better of Kozák and Dóra Bodonyi in the women’s K2 500m final alongside Regal.

Kozák was out for revenge but was unable to stop Carrington who quickly asserted her dominance on the event.

It was Kozák’s team-mate Tamara Csipes who was Carrington’s nearest challenger but she was more than a second behind the leader at the halfway point.

Carrington won the race in emphatic fashion as Csipes claimed the silver medal in 1:51.855 and Emma Jørgensen of Denmark took bronze in 1:52.773.

Kozák finished outside the medals, coming fourth in 1:53.414.

There was better news for Hungary in the men’s K1 200m final as Sándor Tótka emerged victorious from a thrilling race that went right down to the wire.

He edged out Manfredi Rizza of Italy by just 0.045 seconds, winning in 35.035sec following a photo finish.

Rizza was just unable to overhaul Tótka who led from start to finish as the Italian came second in 35.080.

Defending champion Liam Heath of Britain also pushed hard but had to settle for the bronze medal in 35.202.

Nevin Harrison of the United States added an Olympic gold to her world title with a dominant display to win the women's C1 200m final.

The Olympic record holder clocked a time of 45.932 as she powered to victory.

Canada's six-time world champion Laurence Vincent-Lapointe went toe-to-toe with Harrison early in the race before the American went clear.

Vincent-Lapointe managed to hold on for second spot in 46.786, with Liudmyla Luzan of Ukraine clinching bronze in 47.034.

Australia's Jean van der Westhuyzen and Thomas Green claimed gold in the men's K2 1000m after beating world champions Max Hoff and Jacob Schopf of Germany.

The Australian duo crossed the finish line in 3:15.280 as the Germans had to settle for silver in 3:15.584.

Van der Westhuyzen and Green moved six metres in front of the rest of the field, while Hoff and Schopf desperately tried to close the gap.

Bence Nádas and Bálint Kopasz of Hungary had occupied third spot but Josef Dostál and Radek Šlouf of Czech Republic upped the ante to move into bronze medal position.

Dostál and Šlouf secured their place on the podium in 3:16.106 as Bence Nádas and Bálint Kopasz of Hungary came fourth in 3:16.535.

Action is due to continue tomorrow.