Rising Derby skeleton star Freya Tarbit is currently in second position at the halfway stage of the Europa Cup following a string of podium places in the first four races.
The 22 year-old recently claimed a gold medal plus two silvers and a bronze across Norway and Austria in an excellent start to the competition which puts her in a strong position to claim an overall gold medal in early 2023.
It’s the latest sign that Freya is one of Derbyshire’s most exciting sports prospects to look out for.
In conversation with Freya, she explained in detail how the Europa Cup in skeleton works:
“The Europa Cup started in October and it works a little like how the Formula One does, where you travel to different countries and race on different circuits throughout the year. It’s all scored on a points system. You get a certain number of points for every position you finish after each race. It all gets collated together at the end which decides who is the overall Europa Cup winner. You have medals and podiums after each race in the Europa Cup too.”
Tarbit’s gold medal came in the very first race of the 2022/23 Europa Cup competition at the Lillehammer circuit in Norway:
“Going into the first race, I thought I could do well. The British Programme had their own internal selection race which was at the same track in Lillehammer, which I did quite well in. So I was quietly confident going into the first race. I was just going to focus on my own run and the results would sort themselves out. But when I saw I was sitting in first position after my first run, I was just – oh, wow! I hadn’t ever been in that position before. In the first heat of an event, the order of athletes is randomly allocated. But the second heat is flipped – so whoever is leading after the first heat goes out last for the second heat. So I was the last person out of the changing rooms for the second heat which was quite a daunting experience. I definitely took it in my stride. Seeing that I’d won after the final heat was so cool.”
Freya’s victory meant that she also got to experience a winter sports medal ceremony for the first time in her career so far:
“That was incredible. I used to compete in athletics for Derby Athletics Club, so I’ve stood on podiums before. But having the national anthem played and watching the flags be raised - it was honestly just the best experience.”
Overall, Tarbit is very satisfied with her first half of this winter season’s Europa Cup and sets her up excellently for the second half of the competition:
“I’m really happy with how I’ve performed. I’m happy that I’ve consistently managed to show that I can be up there and medal every time. When I got the bronze medal in Bludenz, I was annoyed! If I’d have told myself at this point last year that I would be annoyed with a bronze medal, I’d have told myself to shut up! I think I’m in a really good place and it’s going to be an exciting second half of the winter season.”
During our conversation with Freya, she also explained what her ideal skeleton circuit is that suits her style best:
“I think something with some high pressure corners. Some tracks really flow and the corners aren’t that big, but I quite like tracks that have a mix of everything. That’s why I really like the Lillehammer circuit – the top of the track really flows well and you allow your speed to build before reaching some high pressure corners at the bottom. You have to be really on it. Nothing too boring!”
2023 promises to be a very exciting year for Tarbit. As well as the conclusion of her Europa Cup campaign, the Derby winter sports star has other huge competitions to look forward to with the opportunity to win more medals:
“I’ll be competing at my first World Cup event in January, which is really exciting…a week after that first World Cup race, I’ll be competing in the Junior World Championships. That’ll be my last one as this is my last year where I’m classed as a junior. Then because of how well I’ve done at the Europa Cup, I’ve been promoted to compete in the Intercontinental Cup which is like the next level up from the Europa Cup. That will take place at Innsbruck in Austria in February.”
Freya is confident of her chances of medal success at the Junior World Championships in particular:
“Definitely. I spoke with my coach at the start of this year about the prospects of medalling at the 2023 Junior World Championships. I thought in my head that it’s something that I’d like to do but I didn’t really know if I could or not. But now, seeing what I’ve done at the end of this year, that’s really given me a confidence boost. I think I can now challenge for a medal, for sure.”
The long-term goal though is undoubtedly competing for Great Britain at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy:
“Yeah, definitely. That’s 100% the long-term goal. If I can just keep plodding away and work myself up the circuits, then hopefully I should be able to get there.”
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