But it\u2019s not just about Carrington, as Walker has played a principal role in the development of a world-leading programme, while the staggering triumph of the women\u2019s K4 crew at the 2024 Olympics was one of his finest accomplishments.<\/p>\n
(From L-R) Lisa Carrington, Tara Vaughan, Olivia Brett and Alicia Hoskin celebrate with their gold medals from the women\u2019s K4 500m final at the Paris Olympics. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n
\u201cHis legacy is remarkable,\u201d agreed Canoe Racing New Zealand chief executive Graham Oberlin-Brown.<\/p>\n
The decision has been a \u201cdifficult\u201d process for Walker, who had been expected to lead the team through to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, but he is at peace with it. There is no single reason; he still loves many aspects of the role, but he made a choice.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are probably a number of things that contributed to it, but it was more just a feeling within me that said, this is the right time,\u201d said Walker. \u201cI\u2019m going to be sad to leave. I\u2019m going to miss the team a lot, but I\u2019ve made the decision in a good space.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is no doubt that the physical, mental and emotional demands have been a factor. Walker remains a hands-on coach \u2013 out on Lake Pupuke with his athletes most mornings and has completed more than 10,000 sessions since 2010, with the team training six days a week. There\u2019s also the travel, and Walker says he has probably spent more time with his athletes over the years than with his three teenage children.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo do this job, it takes 100%,\u201d says Walker. \u201cIt\u2019s not 99%. It\u2019s whatever you have, whatever the 100% of you is, whatever you\u2019ve got to give, and there\u2019s no doubt in my mind that I\u2019ve given 100% to this role. To achieve things that are beyond what might normally be possible, that\u2019s what that requires.\u201d<\/p>\n
Legendary kayaking coach Gordon Walker has announced his retirement.<\/p>\n
Walker has spent the past week informing his closest circle, admitting that the conversation with Carrington was particularly hard. He went to her house last Sunday to tell her, and it was an emotional time with a few tears shed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know if she was surprised, but I think she was,\u201d said Walker. \u201cWe\u2019ve had this partnership for a long time; we\u2019ve spent an incredible amount of time together and [that] has created a special connection.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walker, who had a background in multisport and was a three-time Coast to Coast champion, started at Canoe Racing New Zealand as a coaching intern in March 2010. He began working with Carrington in October of that year, and the Ohope product achieved its first world championship success in 2011. That was followed by the K1 200m gold at the London Olympics, then multiple medals four years later in Rio. <\/p>\n
The Tokyo Olympics was a triple triumph \u2013 with Carrington winning two individual events and teaming up with Caitlin Ryan in the K2 500m before arguably the apex of Walker\u2019s career in Paris, as New Zealand swept the K1 500m, the K2 500m and K4 500m, with the big boat triumph the first since 1984. <\/p>\n
Alongside that, there have been numerous medals at World Cups and World Championships, and a broadening of the depth and base. Walker declined to pick a favourite moment \u2013 there are too many \u2013 but says a lot of the enduring memories are away from the Olympic climaxes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt could be a particular training session, or especially when you are away, like a barbecue we had on the side of a lake in Canada. We lit the fire, we were cooking, the whole team\u2019s there…that\u2019s as special to me as a medal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coach Gordon Walker and Dame Lisa Carrington at a training session on Lake Pupuke.<\/p>\n
Walker doesn\u2019t know what he will do next \u2013 \u201cI haven\u2019t got anything planned\u2026my main feeling was to exit in the best way possible\u201d \u2013 but is likely to continue working in sport. Firstly, though, he is looking forward to more family time with his wife Viv and children Stella (18), Lola (16) and Freddie (14). <\/p>\n
\u201cI picked my [oldest] daughter up from her last exam, and driving home, we were talking and realised that I\u2019ve had the same job since she was in kindergarten,\u201d says Walker. <\/p>\n
\u201cAcross her entire schooling career, I\u2019ve had this job, and so as a consequence, every single morning when she gets up and goes to school, I was gone. So it\u2019s a new opportunity for me to be around.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walker, 53, is expected to continue with CRNZ until March 2026, at the conclusion of the national trials. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to ensure some stability for the team,\u201d said Walker. \u201cThe athletes are our number one priority.\u201d<\/p>\n
New Zealand women’s kayak K4 team briefed by coach Gordon Walker.<\/p>\n
A six-time coach of the year at the Halberg Awards, Walker was also recognised as the coach of the decade in 2020. He has been in charge of the overall women\u2019s programme since 2016. Walker has guided Carrington to nine Olympic medals (eight gold) and 15 world championship titles. On Sunday, Carrington paid tribute to her long-time mentor.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing coached by Gordy for the past fifteen years has been both an honour and a privilege,\u201d said Carrington. \u201cHe is without question one of New Zealand\u2019s greatest coaches, and I can\u2019t thank him enough for his vision, commitment and belief. I also want to acknowledge the role Gordy\u2019s family played during this time with CRNZ. His wife and their children have been a constant source of support.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walker is naturally humble but is proud of his legacy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I look at everything that\u2019s around the team at the moment, with so many resources and so many things that just didn\u2019t exist before, that\u2019s one of the things I\u2019m leaving behind,\u201d said Walker. \u201cThe environment is there \u2013 we have some incredible things around us \u2013 which makes me really optimistic about where the team can go in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael Burgess<\/a> has been a Sports Journalist for the New Zealand Herald since 2005, covering the Olympics, Fifa World Cups, and America\u2019s Cup campaigns. He is a co-host of the Big League podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"But it\u2019s not just about Carrington, as Walker has played a principal role in the development of a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":194988,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[74,66020,120837,2947,8985,23834,40370,12514,424,12001,5836,111,43,139,69,3512,205,14005,61,57698,102,26157],"class_list":["post-194987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-after","tag-canoe","tag-carrington","tag-dame","tag-era","tag-golden","tag-gordon","tag-leave","tag-life","tag-lisa","tag-lost","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-racing","tag-role","tag-times","tag-to","tag-walker","tag-with","tag-words"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=194987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194987\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/194988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=194987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}