Competing at the Olympics comes with a tremendous amount of pressure, especially when you're just 20 years old. Diffusing that pressure is imperative to success.

For American canoe slalom paddler Evy Leibfarth, the fastest way to do that is by breaking out her oil paints.

"When I'm paddling and when I'm on a run, when I'm on a medal-winning run, I feel like I'm just in such a flow state. Everything goes silent. We had the biggest crowd out there, and I felt the energy, but I couldn't hear anything," Leibfarth said. "I feel like it's the same when I'm painting." 

In Tokyo, Leibfarth, then 17, became the youngest paddler in U.S. Olympic history, though she didn't make the podium. It's a different story in Paris, where she became the first American to  win a medal in canoe slalom since 2004 — the year she was born.

In the eighth daily edition of In the Village: An NBC Olympic and Paralympic podcast, titled "Day 8: Sparkles on the Water," Leibfarth recounts her time in Paris and reveals the best part of her bronze-winning run: having her parents there to support her. 

"We've been working on this as a team. This is our freaking medal — it's not just mine," Leibfarth said of winning the medal with the help of her father, who also serves as her coach. "He has been there with me this whole entire journey. When I was eight years old, I remember watching the Olympics on the TV ... I told my dad, 'Hey, I want to go to the Olympics. I want that to be me.' He helped me make a plan, and he got me here."

Hear all of that and more on the latest episode of In the Village.

New episodes of In the Village will be released every day during the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. 

Follow the show on on the iHeart App, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music or your favorite podcast platform.