In June 2009, she won a bronze medal at the World Cup regatta held in
Szeged, Hungary, competing alongside
Teneale Hatton in the women's K2 1000 metres event. In May 2010, the pair won the gold medal in the same event at a World Cup regatta in
Vichy, France. In late 2010, she started working with coach Gordon Walker. Carrington and Hatton won three gold medals at the 2010 Oceania Canoe Championships; they won the 500 and 1000 metres K2 events and were joined by
Rachael Dodwell and
Erin Taylor to win the K4 500 metres. The pair became the first New Zealanders ever to reach a World Championship A final at the
ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in
Poznań, Poland. Their time of one minute 42.365 seconds in the semi-finals meant they qualified third fastest for the final of the K2 500 metres, however they finished the final in ninth position. The result secured an Olympic qualification berth for New Zealand. She was also honoured with the
Māori Senior Sports Woman of the Year Award. Carrington represented
New Zealand at the 2012 Summer Olympics in
London. In the
K2 500 metres, Carrington and Erin Taylor finished 7th, and in the
K1 200 metres Carrington won the gold medal. At the 2012 Oceania Championships, Carrington won gold medals in the K1 200 metres and in the K2 200 metres with Taylor. At the
2016 Summer Olympics in
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, she defended her gold medal in the
K1 200 metres event and won a bronze medal in the
K1 500 metres event. In doing so, she became the first New Zealand woman to win multiple medals at the same Olympic games. Carrington was the flag bearer at the
2016 closing ceremony. At the 2019 Canoe Sprint World Championships in Szeged, Carrington won gold medals in the K1 500 metres and K1 200 metres events. On 3 August 2021, at the
2020 Summer Olympics in
Tokyo, Carrington won her third consecutive gold medal in the
K1 200 metres event. On 5 August 2021, she won a further gold medal in the
K1 500 metres event. She is also the first New Zealand woman to win three gold medals at a single Olympics, In August 2024, Carrington again won three Olympic gold medals at the
2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, in the
K4 500m,
K2 500m and
K1 500m events, the latter event being her eighth career Olympic gold medal and her ninth medal in total. Carrington stepped away from canoeing for the 2025 season but announced she still had plans to compete in
2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. ==Awards and honours==