From July 20–25, RIVERSPORT in Oklahoma City hosted the world’s best paddlers for the 2026 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships — more than 250 athletes from 50 nations converging on home water. This year’s event carried extra weight: it was the first event to offer Olympic ranking points for LA28, making every heat, semifinal, and final a real step toward Olympic canoe slalom qualification.
Over six days of racing across K1, C1, and the newest Olympic discipline, Kayak Cross, USA Canoe/Kayak Team delivered a championships to remember — highlighted by Evy Leibfarth’s K1 silver medal.
Day 1: Kayak Cross Time Trials
View from the starting ramp for the Kayak Cross events at the 2026 Canoe Slalom World Championships in Oklahoma City, OK. Photo Credit: Marc Hunt
The championships opened with Kayak Cross Individual Time Trials, where the field was trimmed to the top 42 for Saturday’s head-to-head racing. In Kayak Cross, raw speed only tells half the story — missing a gate, passing one on the wrong side, or failing to roll in the roll zone triggers a fault that drops an athlete to the bottom of the rankings for that round, regardless of finish time.
All three members of the U.S. Women’s Team punched their tickets to Friday’s opening round: Evy Leibfarth posted the 17th-fastest time, with sisters Marcella and Isabella Altman qualifying in 36th and 37th, respectively.
On the men’s side, Michal Smolen advanced with the 39th-fastest time. Tyler Westfall and Kaelin Friedenson came up just short of qualifying but had another race on the horizon in the Men’s Kayak events beginning July 21.
Day 2: K1 Heats and K1 Team Final
July 21 brought K1 heats and the K1 team final. Evy Leibfarth turned in the day’s headline performance, posting the third-fastest raw time — just 0.47 seconds off the leader — before a single touch dropped her to 6th. It was more than enough to advance to Thursday’s semifinals. Ria Sribar joined her through to the next round, qualifying 22nd in a field where the top 30 moved on. Marcella Altman narrowly missed the cutoff and shifted her focus to the C1 event on July 22.
The men’s squad had a tougher day. Michal Smolen and Tyler Westfall each picked up a touch that pushed them outside qualifying position, and Kaelin Friedenson also finished outside the top 30 needed for the semifinals.
Tyler Westfall races in the MK1 Heats at the 2026 Canoe Slalom World Championships. Photo Credit: Marc Hunt
In team racing, the U.S. Women’s K1 Team — Leibfarth, Sribar, and Altman — finished 9th of 13 nations. The Men’s Team of Smolen, Westfall, and Friedenson placed 10th of 18.
Day 3: C1 Heats and C1 Team Event
C1 competition on July 22 showcased the depth of the U.S. program. Four-time Olympian Casey Eichfeld (23rd) and one-time Olympian Zach Lokken (27th) both landed inside the top 30 to advance to Friday’s semifinals. Nathaniel Francis put down a clean run but finished outside the cutoff.
Evy Leibfarth added a clean C1 heat run of her own, finishing 19th to advance to semifinals for a second discipline. 17-year-old Carden Oetting, racing in her Senior World Championships debut fresh off a junior K1 world championship podium, delivered a strong run but placed 37th, narrowly missing the cut. Marcella Altman picked up two touches in C1 and will turn her attention to Saturday’s Kayak Cross.
Carden Oetting races in the WC1 heats at the 2026 Canoe Slalom World Championships. Photo Credit: Marc Hunt
In the team events, the men’s trio of Eichfeld, Lokken, and Francis finished 11th of 16 nations, while the women’s team of Leibfarth, Oetting, and Altman placed 9th of 10.
Day 4: K1 Semifinals and Finals — Leibfarth Takes Silver
July 23 delivered the moment of the championships. In the K1 semifinal, Evy Leibfarth turned in a stellar run, picking up just one touch to finish second — a mere 0.04 seconds behind China’s Li Shiting.. Ria Sribar’s semifinal run included two touches that kept her outside the top 12 needed to advance to the final.
In the final, Leibfarth claimed the silver medal, sharing the podium with gold medalist Jess Fox and bronze medalist Kimberley Woods. It’s Leibfarth’s best World Championships finish to date, and further proof that her K1 bronze in Paris was no fluke. The result moves her to 2nd in Olympic Qualification Points as she builds her case for LA28.
Day 5: C1 Semifinals and Finals
Zach Lokken racing in the MC1 Semifinal at the 2026 Canoe Slalom World Championships. Photo Credit: Marc Hunt
Casey Eichfeld put down a blistering raw time in the C1 semifinal — fast enough for third place — but two touches ultimately kept him from advancing to the final. Zach Lokken also fell short of the run he was chasing and did not progress.
Evy Leibfarth delivered another outstanding semifinal run to finish third and qualify for the C1 final. In the final, she placed 9th — not the result she was hoping for, but a solid top-10 finish that underscored her consistency across both K1 and C1.
Day 6: Kayak Cross Head-to-Head Racing
The championships closed with the full Kayak Cross bracket: round 1, repechage, heats, quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals. Athletes who don’t advance through Round 1 get a second chance in the repechage — but at a cost, since it means racing more times before reaching the heats.
Evy Leibfarth built an early lead in her Round 1 heat but was struck in the face by a paddle at an up-gate, costing her direct qualification and sending her to the repechage. Isabella and Marcella Altman also raced their way into the repechage. Michal Smolen had a strong Round 1 result, finishing second to advance directly to the heats.
Michal Smolen racing in the MKX1 Heats at the 2026 Canoe Slalom World Championships. Photo Credit: Nathaniel Francis
In the repechage, both Altman sisters were unable to secure a heats spot, closing out their World Championships. Leibfarth won her repechage race and advanced to heats. In the heats, however, she was assessed an RAL (Ranked as Last) penalty and was eliminated from quarterfinal contention.
Smolen carried his strong start into the heats, finishing second to advance to the quarterfinal. There, a fault on gate 3 ended his run and closed out his World Championships.
A Home Championships, On and Off the Water
Beyond the results, this year’s World Championships stood out as a hosting milestone for the U.S. RIVERSPORT put on a memorable, well-organized event, and international competitors got a genuine taste of Oklahoma City culture along the way — cowboy boots, belt buckles, and ranch dressing included. It also doubled as a preview of what athletes and fans can expect in 2028, when canoe slalom and softball will both take place OKC during the LA28 Olympics.
The event carried significance beyond racing for the sport’s international governing body as well: the International Canoe Federation officially announced its rebrand to Paddle Worldwide during the World Congress on July 26, immediately following the World Championships.
Kelsey Bracewell, ACA’s Director of Education, Insurance, and Membership, also brought the championships into the local community, partnering with RIVERSPORT and Paddle Worldwide to provide kayaking instruction to Oklahoma City-area youth on the Oklahoma River throughout the event. Program highlights included:
- 39 unique youth, ages 8–14, participated
- 20 girls and 19 boys took part
- Several groups returned for additional sessions, resulting in 61 total participant interactions
- All participants live within the Oklahoma City metro area
A Championships to Build On
Racing on home water with Olympic ranking points on the line for the first time, the USA Canoe/Kayak Team delivered its share of statement performances — none bigger than Evy Leibfarth’s silver medal in K1 and her top-10 finish in C1, results that now put her 2nd in Olympic Qualification Points in K1 on the road to LA28. With strong showings from Casey Eichfeld, Zach Lokken, Michal Smolen, and a promising Senior Worlds debut from Carden Oetting, the 2026 World Championships offered a clear look at the depth and momentum building across the USA Canoe/Kayak Team heading into the next Olympic cycle.
USA Canoe/Kayak Team World Championships Rankings:
Evy Leibfarth
- 30th WKX1 (head-to-head)
- 17st WKX1 (individual)
- 2nd WK1
- 9th WC1
Marcella Altman
- 36th WKX1 (head-to-head)
- 36th WKX1 (individual)
- 45th WK1
- 46th WC1
Isabella Alman
- 39th WKX1 (head-to-head)
- 37th WKX1 (individual)
Ria Sriabar
- 18th WK1
Carden Oetting
- 37th WC1
Michal Smolen
- 16th MKX1 (head-to-head)
- 39th MKX1 (individual)
- 38th MK1
Kaelin Friedenson
- 71st MKX1 (head-to-head)
- 71st MKX1 (individual)
- 49th MK1
Tyler Westfall
- 56th MKX1 (head-to-head)
- 56th MKX1 (individual)
- 42nd MK1
Casey Eichfeld
- 17th MC1
Zach Lokken
- 24th MC1
Nathaniel Francis
- 60th MC1