At the U.S. Olympic Trials in Montgomery, Evi Leibfurth earned a spot on the U.S. women's canoe slalom team at the 2024 Paris Olympics this summer.
Rolando Arrieta/NPR
hide caption
toggle caption
Rolando Arrieta/NPR
At the U.S. Olympic Trials in Montgomery, Evi Leibfurth earned a spot on the U.S. women's canoe slalom team at the 2024 Paris Olympics this summer.
Rolando Arrieta/NPR
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Tammy Sterling was planning on leaving town last weekend. Instead, she stayed home and participated in an athletic event unlike anything she'd ever seen.
“I'm actually watching the Olympic trials and I'm going to meet the athletes I saw today at the 2024 Paris Olympics, which is really amazing. I love it,” Sterling said.
The U.S. Olympic Team trials for canoe and kayak slalom were held Saturday and Sunday at Montgomery Whitewater, a new man-made water sports complex near downtown Montgomery. Hundreds of curious Alabamians gathered for the event.
Cindy Riggins was intrigued by the talent of the athletes who traveled to her hometown for the competition.
“It's a fun sport. It's very tiring. You have to stay in shape,” she said.
In canoe and kayak slalom, athletes race against the clock as they pass through a series of red and green gates suspended above ferocious rapids. If you touch the gate or miss, points will be deducted. Coaches, teammates, friends, and parents ran along the course, encouraging and cheering racers on their way to the finish line.
“They chant: Up, up, up!” kayaker Nick Nijhawan said. “That's because the red gate is also called the up gate, and it's our own variation of 'Go Go Go,'” Nijhawan said.
Nijhawan, a 16-year-old from Colorado, said he doesn't expect to make this year's Olympic team, “but sometime in the next 10 years it would be great.”
Ebby Liepfurth, 20, of Bryson City, North Carolina, recorded the fastest times in both the kayak and canoe slalom events, making her the only Olympic athlete among the nearly 70 athletes competing in Montgomery to win the women's canoe slalom. He was a player who earned a spot. Team USA's remaining spots will be decided in Oklahoma City in the next two weeks.
Evi Leibfurth of the United States will compete in the women's canoe slalom C1 at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in July 2021.
Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP
Evi Leibfurth of the United States will compete in the women's canoe slalom C1 at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in July 2021.
Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP
“This weekend was great for me. I'm really proud of my race this weekend. Overall it was great, emotional and a lot of fun.” Finished outside the top 10 in two events at Tokyo 2020 After it was over, Leibfert, who will be competing in his second Olympics, said:
“It's been a dream of mine to go to Paris for a really long time, so I'm really excited to make it a reality,” Leibfert added.
Enhancing the appeal of urban sports
Local leaders hope that such an Olympic-sanctioned event will help Montgomery's economy and make Montgomery famous as a sports tourism destination.
Mayor Stephen L. Reed said hosting the Olympic trials in the U.S. speaks to “the axis that we want to move toward, which is to make sports tourism a big part of what's happening here.” .
He said he sees kayaking and canoeing competitions at this level as a way to break down racial, economic and social barriers, especially among children. “Maybe they'll be one of the first athletes to bring home a medal from Montgomery or the first athlete to bring a medal home from Alabama” at these events, the mayor said.
Montgomery Whitewater was built by the county at a cost of about $90 million and opened in July. It is his third man-made whitewater park in the United States, following facilities in Oklahoma City and Charlotte. This is part of a broader change in the sporting world, with almost all high-level competition now being held on artificial courses.
Scott Shipley, a three-time kayak slalom Olympian and current mechanical engineer, designed all three whitewater parks.
“That was what I wanted to bring to America,” Shipley said. “It's pure recreation, and not just that 1%, but church groups, school groups, family and friends come to enjoy the whitewater where they are.”
Further expanding awareness of paddle sports
Jedediah Hinckley, competition director for the American Canoe Association, visited the venue six times to make sure it was ready for the Olympic Trials. He said his group and Montgomery share the goal of “creating access to sports that have historically been inaccessible to many people in this region.”
Even with the new venue, not everyone in Montgomery is ready to pick up a paddle. Nick Riggins, who was watching the event with his sister Cindy, said when he first heard the city was investing in a whitewater park near downtown, he “thought it was a hoax.” Told.
”“It's interesting to see how they maneuver with kayaks and everything else, but it's nothing I'd want to do,” Riggins said. do it. “
Still, he said he was glad the facility was open.
