Hometown Pride: Bryson City welcomes home Olympic medalist
Bryson City welcomes home Swain County Olympic paddler Evy Leibfarth. Hannah McLeod photo
Evy Leibfarth may as well have been born on the river. Her parents met while working as raft guides on the Nantahala and had her on the water with them before she could even hold a paddle.
It wasn’t long, though, before Leibfarth had a kayak and paddle of her own — pink and sparkly, respectively — and since that moment it has always been the family bond, and greater sense of community, that has kept her invested in the sport.
“It was the community, really, that hooked me,” Leibfarth told The Smoky Mountain News. “Paddling is a small sport for now, but the community of people is so supportive and everyone just wants to better the sport.”
In her second Olympic appearance at Paris 2024, the Swain County native took home a bronze medal in the women’s canoe slalom event. She finished with a time of 109.95 seconds behind Australia’s Jessica Fox who won gold with a time of 101.06 and Germany’s Elena Lilik who took silver with a time of 103.54.
In addition to the bronze medal she earned in Paris, Leibfarth is the first U.S. Olympian to compete in all three events — canoe slalom, kayak slalom and kayak cross. She is also the first U.S. female athlete to win a slalom medal in 20 years. These achievements come on the heels of years of hard work and dedication. Even at the tender age of 20, Leibfarth has learned a great deal during her career in the sport.
“I was in a much better headspace this time around. My first Olympics was only my second season ever competing as a senior, so I didn’t have that much experience and didn’t have a ton of strategies to deal with stress. I had no idea what it would feel like to be at the Olympics. I prepared as well as I could, but I didn’t have that experience under my belt. I was 17, so it was kind of a lot,” Leibfarth said. “I was able to spend the last couple years getting faster and stronger, but also working a lot with a sports psychologist, figuring out how to manage emotions during competing and getting to a really positive outlook of confidence and trusting in where my training got me.”
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After a one-year delay, the Tokyo Olympics, held in 2021, permitted almost no spectators. But for Paris 2024, Olympic fever was back — live and in full force.
“It was incredible having a crowd there,” said Leibfarth. “We were competing in front of, I think, 15,000 people, which is absolutely crazy. The stands were packed. I’ve never competed in front of that many people. There was no one in the stands at Tokyo, no one in the opening ceremony. The energy of the people, having my mom there, my best friends, it was really special.”
True to her original draw to the sport, even after winning a bronze medal, Leibfarth says the best part of her Paris 2024 Olympic experience was getting to do it with the people she loves.
“I loved that I got to be there with my best friends,” said Leibfarth. “Kayaking is a small sport, so there are a lot of people that I’ve been racing with since I was 11 years old, people that I spend so much time with.”
Whether at training camps or international competitions, Leibfarth spends most of her time with her peers, other high-level competitors in the sport.
Evy Leibfarth is the first female Olympian from the Nantahala. Brian Hall photo
“There’s something really special about getting to take on the start line with a bunch of people who inspire you and who you’re really friends with,” Leibfarth said. “Watching my friends crush it out there.”
While Leibfarth may have missed the kayak finals, she described her elation at getting to run alongside one of her friends as they competed on the way to a bronze medal finish in that event.
“It was so special and she did the same thing for me,” said Leibfarth. “My best friends are the people that I compete against.”
Having that support system was key for a competition that holds significantly more weight and stress than a normal competition.
“Just qualifying for the games is such a mission, such a journey,” said Leibfarth. “It takes three years through and through to get that qualification. So, by the time you are there, you’re a little exhausted. And then you only have this one chance.”
On Aug. 14, Bryson City residents welcomed their hero home with a parade and ceremony downtown. It was only appropriate that she should ride into town atop a big blue Nantahala Outdoor Center bus, replete with rafts, Leibfarth herself bearing the Olympic flag.
Founded in 1972 by Payson and Aurelia Kennedy and Horace Holden Sr., the NOC has long been more than just a rafting outpost, fostering a “whole river community,” as Leibfarth puts it. In 1989, the Nantahala Racing Club was organized under NOC sponsorship with a mission to engage youth and families in whitewater activities. Leibfarth, and several others would get their start with the Nantahala Racing Club.
“NOC has a long legacy of Olympians,” said Kristen Kastelic, marketing director for the NOC. “Evy will be the 23rd for us.”
In the 1992 Olympics, NOC paddlers Joe Jacobi and Scott Strausbaugh won gold in C2 — open canoe with two paddlers. At the 1996 Olympics, the paddling events for which were held on the Ocoee River, four NRC members made Team USA.
Inspired by those who came before her, Leibfarth is the first female to join the ranks of Olympic Nantahala paddlers.
NOC hosted a welcome home ceremony for Evy Leibfarth Aug. 14. Hannah McLeod photo
“I think the first time I had the [Olympic] dream was when I was eight years old,” Leibfarth said. “NOC had an Olympic Day Celebration where they had a big TV and played all of the kayaking Olympians that were competing in London. I remember watching it and saying to my dad, I want to be there some day.”
At the ceremony following the parade on Aug. 14, Leibfarth shared the stage, not only with local dignitaries and elected officials, but also with some of her fellow Nantahala Olympians — including Angus Morrison, Lecky Haller, Scott Strausbaugh, Horace Holden and Wayne Dickert — all of whom celebrated both Leibfarth’s achievements and the legacy of paddlers on the Nantahala River.
“I think the biggest group I want to thank is just this community. Bryson City, Swain County, we’re pretty small, not that many people, but we’re loud and we’re inspiring,” said Leibfarth. “Growing up here was the best thing that could have happened to me.”
“Getting to come back to this, to y’all, it’s the most amazing thing ever,” she continued.
In recognition of Leibfarth’s success, both Swain County Commission Chairman Kevin Seagle and Bryson City Mayor Tom Sutton declared Aug. 14 “Evy Leibfarth Day.” Also in attendance, North Carolina Sen. Kevin Corbin presented Leibfarth with a United States flag that had been flown over the United States Capitol in her honor.
“Congratulations on winning the bronze medal in the canoe slalom at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris,” said Corbin. “You have succeeded in attaining what many have dreamed of, yet few have accomplished. I’m proud of you that you represented the state of North Carolina and the United States of America.”
Despite all the firsts Leibfarth accomplished with her 2024 Olympic showing, she has her gaze firmly set on the future.
“I’m definitely going to go for another Olympics, or two or three. I’ve always said that I’m going to keep competing in slalom as long as I feel that drive. And I think I feel that drive more than ever right now,” said Leibfarth. “I have a lot of goals that I still want to accomplish.”
In the short term, Leibfarth is looking forward to paddling the Zambezi River this winter, which flows eastward through the Central African Plateau before emptying into the Indian Ocean. Along its course is Victoria Falls, one of the seven natural wonders of the world.
“I’m excited to use the platform that I’ve gained through the Olympics to spread some other messages for kayaking and for rivers,” Leibfarth said. “A lot of projects on rivers and what they mean to us as kayakers, to communities and to the world.”
But when Leibfarth thinks about the future of the sport, she is most excited about the young kids out there who are forming dreams of their own and setting out to chase them.
“It makes me excited to think of the kids that are watching on the big screen, watching the Olympics, saying to themselves that they hope they can get there one day,” said Leibfarth. “Because I know that that was 1,000% me. That moment kind of gave me all this inspiration. I hope that kids are seeing it, getting excited.”
