Montgomery Whitewater Olympic qualifier wins bronze in Paris
Recently, Action 8 News told you that Montgomery Whitewater was named one of the “World’s Greatest Places” by TIME magazine.
Montgomery’s newest attraction is living up to that billing.
In April, Olympic hopefuls came to Montgomery Whitewater trying to claim their spot for the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
One of those is 20-year-old Evy Leibfarth, of Bryson City, NC.
Leibfarth qualified for the Paris Olympics posting the best times for a woman in both kayak slalom and canoe slalom.
Leidfarth’s dream became a reality when earlier this week, she made history by becoming the first competitor in U.S. Canoe Slalom to medal at the Olympics in 20 years. Leibfarth took home the bronze medal for Team USA.
Action 8 News spoke with Montgomery Whitewater officials about Leibfarth’s feat and what it means for the park.
“You are on the same plain, literally in the water as the Olympians are and that just lowers, said kayak manager Paul Belle Isle. “There’s not some special settings that Olympians have to go to. They come to the same setting that you are in and it’s just such an amazing feeling of going down our competition channel being like Olympians have train here, gone through the same rapids that you are tackling yourselves, whether you were in a raft or you’re on kayak.”
The last person to medal in the Canoe Slalom for Team USA was Rebecca Giddens in 2004.
