Canoe sprint athletes Max Brown and Kurtis Imrie have been named for their second Olympic Games, alongside boatmates and Games debutants' Hamish Legarth and Grant Clancy.
It’s a busy Olympic schedule for the athletes who while selected in the K4, will also compete across the K2 and the C2 disciplines at the games. In Paris, Imrie will pair with Legarth in the Men’s K2 500m, while Brown will team up with Clancy in the C2 500m. Both Brown and Imrie made their Olympic debuts at Tokyo 2020, where they narrowly missed the medals with 5th place.
“Going to one Olympics is incredible and this one’s going to be on another level,” said Imrie. “It’s special for us to be going as a K4. It’s been 34 years since a male K4 crew has represented New Zealand at Olympic level so it’s great to get the big boat back on water.“

New Zealand's biggest medal hope in canoe sprint is Lisa Carrington. She won the gold medal in the K1 200 m in London 2012 and repeated this success in Rio de Janeiro 2016 and Tokyo 2020. At the Olympic Games in Japan she also won gold in the K1 500 m and K2 500 m. Carrington will be accompanied in Paris 2024 by Alicia Hoskin, Olivia Brett and Tara Vaughan. The four athletes are current world champions in the K4. The New Zealand Olympic canoe team also includes Aimee Fisher, K1 500 m world champion from 2021.

New Zealand was once the most successful canoeing nation at the Olympic Games, when it won a total of four gold medals in Los Angeles 1984. The Olympic canoe sprint events in Paris begin on August 6th and run until August 10th at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.