In canoe and kayak slalom, competitors navigate through a sequence of red and green gates that dangle over rushing rapids in a race against the clock.
If they come into contact with or miss any of the gates, points are taken away. Alongside the track, parents, friends, coaches, and teammates cheered the racer on as they crossed the finish line.
Paddleboarder Nik Nijhawan remarked, “They chant: up up up.” According to Nijhawan, “that’s because the red gates are also called up gates, so it’s our own variation of, go go go.”
Colorado native Nijhawan, 16, said that although he does not anticipate making the Olympic squad this year, “it would be amazing sometime in the next ten years.” Evy Leibfarth secures a berth.
To compete for the United States in the women’s canoe slalom at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris at the U.S. Olympic trials in Montgomery. NPR’s Rolando Arrieta
