VIDEO EXCLUSIVE: U.S. Olympic Canoeist Evy Leibfarth Reveals Her Mental Strategies For Competition

Competing at the highest level of any sport requires not just physical struggle but mental fortitude as well. For U.S. Olympic canoeist Evy Leibfarth, visualization and stress management techniques are essential tools when facing adversity in the Olympics.

“Oh my gosh, yes. I’d say the biggest thing that I do for my sport is visualizing,” Leibfarth told uSports exclusively in May. “We don’t actually get to practice where the gates are before the race. We could see from the side, we get to watch them and do it, a demonstration boater. But we don’t actually get to do it until it’s race day.”

Canoe Slalom, a sport that involves navigating a course with 24 gates on turbulent water, requires athletes to memorize the course layout and plan their strokes precisely. “So we have to visualize ourselves going through all, like 24 gates. And I have a really bad memory, so it’s really hard for me to remember exactly where to go and what strokes to take. So being able to visualize that over and over again in my head has been so helpful,” she said.

Managing stress is a critical aspect of Leibfarth’s routine. She focuses on controlling the controllable aspects of her performance and maintaining composure under pressure.

“For managing stress, just, you know, a lot of like breathing techniques and focusing on things that I can control rather than how other people do and what the weather is going to do. And, you know, all these other uncontrollable which are present in every sport,” Leibfarth said.