CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Evy Leibfarth first got into a boat in the Nantahala River near her hometown of Bryson City, North Carolina. Now she's taking on rapids in Paris.
Leibfarth felt the rush at an early age. Her parents, Jean Fogler and Lee Leibfarth, were avid kayakers. Leibfarth’s dad even serves as her coach.
Still just 20, she’s now a two-time Olympian. In the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Leibfarth placed 12th in the women’s solo kayaking event and 18th in canoeing. In the 2021 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, she won 1st in both events.
Leibfarth competed on Saturday, July 27 in the first Women's Kayak Heats event at the 2024 Olympics, where she took 8th place out of 22 in the first run with a time of 97.24. Her second run time was 93.84.
Overall, Leibfarth took 4th place in the kayak heats, landing her a spot in the semifinals on Sunday. Her semifinals score of 109.54 did not qualify her for the K-1 finals.
But, as the first U.S. woman to qualify for an Olympic Games in three different kayak and canoe events, she will have more opportunities to go for gold.
Her next competition will be the Slalom Women’s Canoe Heats on Tuesday, July 30.
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