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Now Leibfarth, 17, is set to be the youngest athlete and first woman to represent the United States in the canoe slalom’s C-1 category at this summer’s Olympics. The Bryson City, North Carolina, native plans to head to Tokyo in July for the 2020 Olympics, which were postponed  because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Qualifying for the Olympics was one of the two best things to happen to her this year; the other was getting accepted to ���غ���’s class of 2025. Both happened within a two-week span.

“It was two weeks of being completely over the moon,” she said. “I’d been looking forward to making the Olympic team for years, and hoping so much to get into ���غ���, which is my dream school.

She’ll take a gap semester in the fall and start at ���غ��� in January. She plans to major in biology and minor in data science, with a sports medicine career in mind.

Leibfarth has won multiple medals in international competitions, including women’s canoe and kayak races at the U.S. Olympic team trials in Charlotte this spring.  

“I am so excited to be following my two great passions,” she says, “paddling and education.”

This article was originally published in the Spring/Summer 2021 print issue of the ���غ��� Journal Magazine; for more, please see the ���غ��� Journal section of our website.