CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Evy Leibfarth, the 17-year-old from Bryson City, North Carolina, placed 18th in the women's C-1 slalom semifinals in Tokyo.
Lebfarth finished Thursday morning's run with a final time of 183.32.
Early Tuesday, Leibfarth finished 12th as she competed in the women's K-1 slalom semifinals. She was among 24 competitors vying to make the final round, just missing the Top 10 cut. Leibfarth finished with a time of 112.75 just .1 of a point away from the competitor from Austria.
For the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, slalom canoeing uses a three-round format with heats, semifinals and finals. In heats, each paddler gets two attempts, with the better time counting. The top 15 advance to the semifinal. In the semifinals, each paddler gets one run with the top 10 advancing to the final. The best time in the single-run final wins gold, second gets silver, etc.
Leibfarth hails from Bryson City, where she grew up paddling along the Nantahala River with her parents. She eventually found herself in Charlotte where she trained full-time at the U.S. National Whitewater Center with her father as coach. At only 17 years old, Leibfarth has won several awards including 3rd in WK1 and 3rd in WC1 at the 2020 World Cup.
Women's canoe/kayak schedule:
Women's Slalom K-1 Semi-final and Final 1 a.m. EST Tuesday, July 27Women's Slalom C-1 Heats 11:50 p.m. EST Tuesday, July 27Women's Whitewater Slalom Women's C-1 Heats (delay) 6:30 a.m. EST Wednesday, July 28Women's C-1 Semifinal & Final 1 a.m. EST Thursday, July 29- W K-1 200m, M C-2 1000m, more Heats & Quarterfinals 8:30 p.m. EST Sunday, August 1
- Sprint Women's K-1 200m, more 11 a.m. EST Monday, August 2