Evy Leibfarth, a slalom canoeist and kayaker from Bryson City, N.C., made the podium last week at the Paris Olympic Games, winning the first women’s canoe slalom medal for Team USA since 2004. Finishing with an impressive time of 109.95 (including a two-second penalty for touching a gate), the 20-year-old paddler notched a third-place finish to take home the bronze—her first Olympic medal.
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Video: Evy reacts to winning her first Olympic medal.
“I knew I had that good feeling on the water, where I was out there enjoying the moment…but when I finished I didn’t think it was going to be a medal,” Leibfarth told Team USA’s news team. “Everyone here is such amazing paddlers and it was a very hard course out there.”
Leibfarth barely qualified for the event, getting the last spot among the 12 finalists to advance. She was the first to run in the finals, leaving her to watch the remaining 11 racers try to beat her time. In the end, Australia’s Jessica Fox took gold with a time of 101.06 and Germany’s Elena Lilik earned silver with a time of 103.54.
“My first World Cup medal was with Jess, maybe like five years ago and I remember it being really special just to be in the start line with one of my idols,” Leibfarth told reporters after the medal ceremony, according to USA Today. “I think it’s a really crazy feeling when you kind of start reaching that level… both of these girls I’ve looked up to for so long.”
Leibfarth began her paddling career at age 12, and she’s since won solo kayak and canoe events across the globe. She entered the Paris games as the first U.S. woman to qualify for three different canoe/kayak events.
“Doing three events (is) really intense because not only are you out there physically giving your all every single day, it’s also really taxing mentally,” Leibfarth said. “It’s hard to reset after each run and go into each day feeling the same confidence and the same positive, so it’s definitely really exhausting.”
Leibfarth failed to qualify for the kayak slalom finals the previous Sunday, finishing 15th in the 22-racer semifinal with a time of 1:09.54. Her Paris Olympic experience officially ended this past weekend during the kayak cross after finishing third in her quarterfinal, missing the qualifying spot in the semifinal by one position.
Cover Photo: Cover photo of Evy Leibfarth: Brian Hall / Red Bull Content Pool
