Bryson City – An Olympic bronze medal is coming back to western North Carolina from Paris courtesy of Evy Leibfarth, who had the run of her life on July 31 in the canoe slalom C-1, where she secured a bronze medal.
Leibfarth won Team U.S.A.’s first women’s slalom medal in canoe or kayak in 20 years. Rebecca Giddens won Team U.S.A.’s last canoe slalom medal with a silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.
Leibfarth, 20, qualified for her second Olympics in Paris, where she competed in three events: the canoe slalom C-1, K-1 and KX-1. She is the first Team U.S.A. canoe slalom athlete to compete in all three Olympic events.
She qualified 12th in the semifinals to book her run in the finals. She went first since only the top 12 make it.
She kicked off the finals with a time of 109.95 seconds, holding the top spot until Elena Lilik of Germany had a time of 103.54. Jessica Fox of Australia, the No. 1 ranked canoeist, had a time of 101.06, bumping Leibfarth down to third with one more canoeist to go.
Gabriela Satkova of the Czech Republic had the best time in the semifinal, so she went last in the finals. After a rough run from Satkova, Leibfarth was safe and earned her first Olympic medal.
Leibfarth said on her Instagram, “No words, just a lot of tears,” in reference to taking the bronze medal. When she found out she won, she was very emotional and received hugs from her team. She also congratulated the competitors who won the gold and silver medals.
On the Olympic podium, she received her bronze medal as well as an art print that is exclusive to Paris 2024 Olympic medalists. On each print, their medal is shown in metallic so it stands out. Leibfarth said on social media that she is excited to hang her art print in her room when she comes home.
In the canoe slalom K-1 on July 28, she made it to the semifinal, where she finished in 15th and missed out on the finals by 3.29 seconds.
Her third shot at a medal came in the inaugural kayak cross KX-1 event. Leibfarth had strong runs in the time trial Friday and the first round Saturday. She won her heat Sunday to advance to the quarterfinal Monday, where she took third and did not advance.
In her quarterfinal heat was Kimberley Woods of the United Kingdom. Woods went on to win the bronze medal in KX-1.
Leibfarth made history at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games, and at only 20 years old will continue to be a force in canoe and kayak events.
During the Olympic Games in Paris, she got to paddle alongside her hero, Australian canoe slalom competitor Jessica Fox. Leibfarth said Fox is her hero on her bio on olympics.com
Leibfarth was raised around watersports. Her father, Lee, is a former national whitewater slalom team member and Her mother, Jean, was a whitewater rafting guide at the Nantahala Outdoor Center.