Why Evy Leibfarth is a name to know before 2028 Olympics in Oklahoma City

Evy Leibfarth is a proud North Carolinian.

Her home state is where her parents, river guides and paddling instructors on the Nantahala River in the western part of the state, first took her out on the water. It’s where she fell in love with being on the rapids. Where she got really good at it, too.

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Still, she wouldn’t mind becoming an adopted Oklahoman.

“I will be spending a lot of time here,” she said with a laugh.

That’s because the Olympic events in Leibfarth’s specialty, canoe slalom, are coming to Oklahoma City in 2028.

The Los Angeles City Council made everything official for the 2028 Olympics in Oklahoma City late last week, unanimously approving a request by LA28, the 2028 Olympics organizing committee. It approved the canoe slalom competition being held at Riversport Rapids along the Oklahoma River as well as the softball competition at Devon Park.

More: 2028 Olympics softball in Oklahoma City just got bigger with addition of OU’s Patty Gasso

Needless to say, with our rabid softball culture, there will be no shortage of fans at Devon Park.

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But even as OKC has grown into a white-water hotbed — we hosted the 2024 U.S. Olympic trials, don’tcha know? — our passion has remained tepid. Google images from those Olympic trials, and you’ll see plenty of prime seating available.

And hey, that’s not a knock on OKC. Canoe slalom isn’t a huge draw anywhere in the United States.

In Europe? Absolutely.

In Australia? Sure.

Here? Not so much.

But I can assure you — you’re going to want to know about Evy Leibfarth.

Last year in Paris, she became the first American woman in more than two decades to win an Olympic medal in canoe slalom. Leibfarth (pronounced EV-ee LEEB-farth) took bronze in the women’s canoe singles, and she did it at the ripe old age of 20.

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“Honestly, it’s just been so surreal,” she said last week when she was in town for the ICF Spring World Ranking Series. “Racing in Paris was the craziest experience. In a beautiful city. A really difficult but fun course. And then to be there with a lot of my best friends that I grew up racing with was just so special.

“I guess I just still can’t wrap my head around it.”

More: OKC being asked to provide $34.5 million guarantee on hosting Olympic canoeing, softball

As she talks, her blue eyes wide, you can tell Leibfarth is genuine. The whole idea that she’s an Olympic medalist blows her mind a bit because, hey, she came home and had to go back to real life.

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“I’m training a bunch. I’m in school,” she said. “I feel like I’ve just kind of been doing my stuff.”

And yet, every once in a while, she flashes back to the moment she realized she was going to medal.

As is tradition, paddlers with the best times sit together throughout the finals, and whenever someone beats their time, they either move down a seat or give up the third-place seat altogether. Because Leibfarth had the slowest qualifying time, she raced first and took the top seat.

She was a long shot to medal heading into the Olympics and barely qualified for the finals, so it seemed likely that she’d eventually have to vacate her top-three chair.

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And she did have to give up the top seat.

But it wasn’t until the next-to-last run that she had to give up the second seat. That meant she was in the bronze chair with just one run remaining — she’d either medal or finish fourth, arguably the worst place at the Olympics.

The last competitor hit a gate during her run, meaning she’d be assessed a two-second penalty. That increased Leibfarth’s chance of a medal, but it wasn’t until the final time posted that she knew for sure.

She was mobbed almost instantly.

“Just all of my friends and my dad,” she said of her father, Lee, who is also her coach. “And just running to my mom … it’s all just such a blur because it was so crazy to me.”

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More: NBC agrees to new $3 billion deal to remain Olympic broadcaster through 2036

But it was real, just like her tears as she stood on the podium during the medal ceremony with a bronze around her neck.

Leibfarth has been a bit of a child prodigy in the sport, racing internationally for the first time when she was only 12. As a 17-year-old, she qualified for the Tokyo Olympics, becoming not only the youngest American to qualify in canoe slalom but also the youngest female paddler to compete in both the kayak slalom and canoe slalom events.

The thing is, she’s still super young.

If (though “when” is likely more accurate) she qualifies for the 2028 Olympic team, she still won’t be old enough to rent a car.

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“I don’t think anyone reaches the ceiling in the sport,” she said. “I think that everyone always is growing and getting better, and I think it’s really interesting because there’s so many different facets that come together to create the perfect run.”

She believes mentality, physicality, strength and technique all play a part.

And she believes she’s getting better in all of those areas.

What about experience?

That includes not only the litany of international events that she’s done but also the knowledge she has of OKC’s white-water course. She first raced on it in 2016 when she was only 14.

But she intends to get even better acquainted with it.

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More: How 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials site Riversport OKC has grown into ‘global destination’

“You want to be able to picture it in your mind,” she said. “But you also want to know everything that’s around it. You want to know your food options, the grocery stores that you like, places to stay, all that because you want that feeling like home. You don’t want to be stressed about the race and stressed about where you are.

“That’s why before Paris, I ended up spending a lot of time there, months and months, so it felt familiar to me.”

It felt like a second home.

She suspects Oklahoma City will, too.

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You know what this means, OKC: we have a chance to make Leibfarth feel like she’s an adopted Oklahoman.

Be on the lookout for her. She has long blond hair often under a Red Bull cap, and she might be studying (she’s working on public health and biomedical sciences degrees from Arizona) or drawing (she often sits and draws before she competes). She’s quick to smile and laugh, and she’ll look you straight in the eye.

She’s a North Carolinian, but she’s a lot like a lot of Oklahomans.

We should be pulling for her.

She’s already hoping for the best for us and our Olympic experience.

“It’ll be exciting for the people of Oklahoma to get out here and and come watch and maybe say, ‘I want to try that’ or ‘I want my kids to try that,’” she said.

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“It’s a unique opportunity.”

More: It’s official: OKC to host 2028 Olympic river, softball events

What to know about canoe slalom

Canoe slalom is the umbrella term for the canoe and kayak events that take place on a white-water course instead of a flat-water one (also known as canoe sprint). In the canoe slalom events, paddlers navigate through a series of gates. Most are downstream gates, but a few are upstream.

Speed is important — the best time wins — but getting through the gates smoothly and efficiently is paramount. Touch a gate with a boat or a body, and a two-second penalty is incurred. Miss a gate entirely, and it’s a 50-second penalty.

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In the Olympics, there are six canoe slalom events:

• Men’s and women’s kayak slalom

• Men’s and women’s canoe slalom

• Men’s and women’s kayak cross

In the kayak and canoe slaloms, only one paddler at a time is on the course, much like a downhill skiing event. But in the kayak cross, four paddlers at a time are on the course and are trying to get to the finish line first, more like a track-and-field race.

U.S. canoe slalom athletes to watch

How many athletes from the United States will make the 2028 Olympic canoe slalom team has yet to be determined. Qualification standards must be met and Olympic spots must be earned, but here’s a look at some of the U.S. paddlers who might be competing in Oklahoma City:

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Evy Leibfarth, 20, Bryson City, North Carolina: Of course. The canoe slalom bronze medalist from Paris might be a triple threat. She made the U.S. Olympic team last year in all three women’s events but failed to make the finals in kayak slalom or kayak cross.

Casey Eichfeld, 35, Drums, Pennsylvania: Already a four-time Olympian, Eichfeld is in search of his first Olympic medal. He competed in canoe slalom and kayak cross in Paris and should be a strong contender in both again in 2028.

Zachary Lokken, 31, Durango, Colorado: An Olympian in Tokyo, Lokken beat out Eichfeld for the spot, then last year the opposite happened and Lokken stayed home from Paris. He will look to return to the Games in canoe slalom.

Kyler Long, 19, Boise, Idaho: An up-and-comer. Long won the kayak cross bronze at the 2023 Junior World Championships. Kayak slalom and kayak cross are his specialties.

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Ria Sribar, 22, Auburn, California: Her specialties are kayak slalom and kayak cross, too. Sribar finished second in kayak slalom at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials last year.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: 2028 Olympics in OKC: Why Evy Leibfarth is canoe slalom fan favorite