Evy Leibfarth Sets Sights on Canoe Slalom and Kayak Cross As She Paddles Unprecedented Olympic White Water Triple

PARIS – It wasn’t the kayak singles run that Evy Leibfarth envisionsed, but the multi-talented 20-year-old white water paddler is already looking forward to her next two events – canoe singles and kayak cross.

After clocking the fourth-best time in Saturday’s women’s kayak singles qualification heats, Leibfarth was unable to deliver another scorching run in the semifinal, nicking a gate late in her run. She missed out advancing to the final at the Vaires-sur-Marner Nautical Stadium on Sunday.

The American white water paddler from Bryson City, North Carolina, finished 15th, with the top 12 moving onward. She incurred a two-second penalty for a touch on gate number 19 of 23.

“I did make some mistakes – they changed just a couple of moves on the course to make it harder,” Leibfarth tells Team USA. “They had a lot of moves where you had to actually spin, so you had to go backwards through a gate and then catch a wave and surf it to the next gate, and you have to be really, really crazy for those moves. You're basically trying to, like, float backwards.

“I’m super stoked to have given it my best shot and now I’ll cheer on my friends in the final,” she added.

Evy’s inspiration in the sport, Jessica Fox of Australia won her second Olympic gold medal as defending Olympic champion Ricarda Funk of Germany made two critical mistakes late in her final run. For the 30-year-old French-born Australian, it was her fifth Olympic medal in total.

Ambitiously taking on an unprecedented kayak-canoe triple as kayak cross makes it Olympic debut at the Olympic Games Paris 2024, Leibfarth is the first U.S. woman to qualify for and compete in three Olympic white water events. She addressed the physical and mental rigors of the grueling task, which involves racing across eight of 10 days in Paris.

“I also do all three events at world cups and it’s really intense,” Leibfarth said. “Not only are you out there giving it your all physically every single, day but it’s also really taxing mentally. It’s hard to reset each run, going into each day with the same confidence and positivity.

“It’s definitely exhausting – our runs are 90 seconds, hopefully, but we’re also out there for an hour and a half warming up before, and another 30 minutes to cool down afterwards, so it’s pretty long days.”  

Leibfarth – who made her Olympic debut at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 – is strategizing on how she’ll bring valuable course experience and knowledge ascertained from K-1 into her next event, C-1, which kicks off in two days, on Tuesday, July 30. 

“Just getting time on the finals course is so helpful - you know, there are a couple of moves out there that I really didn't do well in kayak,” Leibfarth said. “And I can watch the video of myself, and I can watch the video of other girls, and I can learn from that for C1.”

The two-time Olympian informed that the canoe slalom gate sets will be the same.

“Having the experience of alreay paddling throught the gates and getting the sense of where they are and how the water is moving is really crucial,” she said.

“Even though canoeing is a lot different, a lot smoother, you’re still going on the same rapids and to have that feeling is so important.”

Leibfarth expressed her confidence and optimism for her upcoming C-1 event. She likes her chances for take two on the Paris Olympic white water course.

Kayak cross is a fast-paced and often physical race between four athletes starting side-by-side. The often unpredictable discipline tests their power, skill and involves varied tactics as competitors tackle both up and downstream gates.

“Kayak cross is really interesting because for the more traditional events it's all about visualization, we close our eyes ten minutes before a run and we know every single stroke and move that we’re going to do out there,” Leibfarth explained. “It’s all planned out.”

“For kayak cross, all of suddden we have plans A, and B, and C, and D, and E, and F, just because there are so many things that can happen when there are three other people going down with you,” Leibfarth says, enjoying answering about the significant difference among the events. 

“You have to have a lot more strategy and there are a lot of split second descisions,” she said.

The 35-year-old Dutch paddler Martina Wegman – who also missed qualifying for the K-1 final by the narrowest of margins – said that the young Amercan white water paddler represents the future of the sport.

“Evy is a really amazing role model in our sport – she has so much potential for the future considering her young age and that she is doing all three disciplines,” Wegman said. “I’m looking forward to following the rest of our career.” 

Before Leibfarth returns to the swirling white water and eddies along the Olympic course, she’ll briefly take her mind off racing through her artistic side, and then refocus and transition into her canoe.

“I’ll make sure to take time for myself – I’m looking forward to doing some art tonight and resetting my mind and then I’m definitely going to spend some time walking around with my friends and keep enjoying the experience.