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Searching for gold Bryson City Olympian misses kayaking finals, aims for canoe medal BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER ryson City Olympian Evy Leibfarth, 17, came up short in her quest for an Olympic kayaking medal but will have another shot at the podium in Tokyo when she races in the first-ever Olympic women’s canoe slalom. Leibfarth easily qualified for the semifinals, which included the top 24 athletes, when she finished 15th in the heats. She came in 20th in the first heat with a time of 125.85 seconds that included two penalty seconds, but she shot up to 14th in the second heat, also accruing two penalty seconds in that race for a total time of 111.7 seconds. Under Olympic rules, each competitor runs both heats, with the faster time used for qualification purposes. In the semi-finals, each competitor does one run. The top 10 semi-finalists then move on to the final, with
Smoky Mountain News
July 28-August 3, 2021
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making waves for years now. In 2019, when she was still 15, she won two medals during a pair of World Cup events held in Europe and ranked in the top 10 in three additional events. Those accomplishments made her the first U.S. woman to medal at any world paddling event since Rebecca Giddens won a silver medal at the 2004 Olympics, the youngest athlete of any gender or nationality to win a Canoe Slalom World Cup medal and the first female paddler of any nationality to medal in a World Cup event at age 15, ever. Also in 2019, Leibfarth became the first woman to win two individual classes at the U.S. Team Trials. When she did it again this May, she tied up her own record. She is the only American competing in the Leibfarth navigates the slalom course during an Olympic heat run. ICF Photography photo Olympic kayak and canoe slalom races. Born in Sylva and residing in Bryson Germany winning gold with a time of 105.5 medalists determined by the results of that City, Leibfarth cut her teeth on the cool seconds. Spanish athlete Maialen Chourraut single final round. mountain waters of the Nantahala River. She took silver. The kayak semifinal was held at 1 a.m. Leibfarth’s chance for a medal is far from learned to paddle as a 4-year-old and entered Eastern Standard Time Tuesday, July 27. her first slalom race at the tender age of 7. over. Heats for the first-ever Olympic This time around, Leibfarth avoided any Leibfarth comes by her passion honestly — women’s canoe slalom competition were penalty seconds, but it cost her in overall her father is a former U.S. national team held after press time at 11:50 p.m. EST time. She finished in 112.73 seconds, 0.97 Tuesday, July 27, and 2 a.m. Wednesday, July coach; her mother is a former raft guide and seconds slower than the 10th-place qualifier kayak instructor. 28. The semi-final will be 1 a.m. Thursday, and 6.88 seconds behind first-place paddler Find Olympic schedules and results at July 29, and the final at 2:55 a.m. July 29. Jessica Fox of Australia. Fox ultimately took Though she’s only 17, Leibfarth has been results.nbcolympics.com/results. bronze in the final, with Ricarda Funk of
ays og D D Dog Days ENTREPRENEURIAL ENGAGEMENT
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