Evy Leibfarth of Bryson City returned to the padel scene this weekend at the Slalom Canoe World Cup of the International Canoeing Federation in Tacen, Slovenia.
The 16-year-old, who had led a forged track to a place on the U. S. Olympic team this summer in Tokyo before his cancellation, won a double bronze medal in the highest-risk outdoor race of the Olympic Games.
Having competed for 8 months due to the global coronavirus pandemic, Leibfarth proved that she missed her slalom training and won bronze in women’s canoe races (WC1) and women’s kayak racing (WK1).
“I’m satisfied with my World Cup races!Spending so much time without running at age 40 was difficult, because running is the way we, as athletes, measure our progress and, beyond that, learning and understanding how to run well is an integral component “Eslalon by canoe,” Leibfarth wrote to Citizen. Schedules by email from France.
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“When I started my first career in the race, I was able to know what to do and concentrate only on rowing and not on anything else. It was a wonderful feeling to start the race with a smart day, and I was assured for the semi-finals and finals,” he said.
Romane Prigent, 21, from France, won gold and his cousin, Camille Prigent, 22, won silver on October 17 in the kayak race, in which rowers descend the river as fast as humanly imaginable without knocking or without a door, adding time penalty. . .
In the canoe race on October 18, where rowers kneel in a canoe adorned with a single leaf oar, the two-time Olympic Ana Satila, 24, from Brazil, won gold, followed by Lucie Prioux, 23, from France.
The Slovenian field is the same one where Leibfarth made history in June 2019 by equipping the youngest woman to win a medal at an ICF Senior World Cup when she won a bronze medal. this race.
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In September 2019, Leibfarth secured a place for the United States to compete at the Tokyo Olympics with his kayaking career at the ICF World Canoe Slalom Championships in Spain.
Leibfarth, who meets the Nantahala Racing Club and trains at nantahala Outdoor Center in Bryson City, is trained by her father, Lee Leibfarth, and attends K12 International Academy, a school from which she will graduate in December.
He was at home in western North Carolina for much of the pandemic, after last running at the Australian Open in February, receiving education at the CON and in a home gymnasium.
The slalom World Cup is the first foreign occasion this year and is subject to strict COVID-19 guidelines, according to the ICF.
Leibfarth said athletes deserve to wear a mask at all times, when they are in the water, and deserve to stay in separate spaces from spectators, which were few.
“It was another without the general crowd. I’m friends with so many athletes, so I stay away from them and I can’t give them a hug of ‘congratulations!’It was another one, too,” he says.
The timing and the latest ICF Slalom World Cup from November 6-8 in Pau, France, is the next step in the teen paddle surf phenomenon.
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The Olympic Games, scheduled for last August, have been postponed until the summer of 2021 in Tokyo, where the women’s slalom canoe will make its deyet. feels like you have a chance after this weekend.
“This is the field where I won my first World Cup medal last year, so it’s special to move from home with two more bronzes,” he said.
Karen Chavez is an award-winning environmental and outdoor journalist for Asheville Citizen Times and USA TODAY. She is a former National Park Service ranger.
Contact Me: KChavez@CitizenTimes. com or on Twitter – KarenChavezACT
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