From Igls, AUT
(February 17, 2023) – Great Britain has had a resurgence of its skeleton program greatness at the World Cup level, but at the European Cup level it’s been just as strong, and in the final race of the European Cup women’s skeleton season Tabitha Stoecker and Freya Tarbit showed that the British talent pool is as deep as ever.
Stoecker, who won her first European Cup gold medal just a day prior in a tie with Austria’s Julia Erlacher, left no doubt about who was quickest on Friday as she dominated the field on her way to a one second victory over teammate Tarbit. After one run she had a .64 advantage over Erlacher. Her second run gave her the two fast slides of the competition to win by the full second.
Tarbit finished second, up from fourth in the first heat. Her first heat effort put her right in the mix with Erlacher, Switzerland’s Sara Schmied and Germany’s Viktoria Dönicke, but the second slide was quick enough to move her up into the silver medal position.
Dönicke, in just her second ever IBSF skeleton race after making the move from braking bobsleds, moved up from fifth in the first heat to win bronze.
Erlacher, the previous day’s co-gold medalist with Stoecker, fell to fourth in her final run, while Schmied fell from third to fifth. Estonia’s Darta Zunte finished sixth, only .22 out of the medals.
Great Britain’s Isabella Fassnidge and Ashlyn Bland finished ninth and 12th to round out the British effort.
Tarbit’s silver medal effort was enough to give her the European Cup women’s skeleton title, 15 points ahead of Stoecker. Mystique Ro, who was not entered in either Igls European Cup event, finished the season in third overall, with Germany’s Viktoria Hansova and Hanna Staub rounding out the top five.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Finish |
| 1 | Tabitha Stoecker | GBR | 10 | 5.38 | 5.38 | 53.19 | 53.72 | 1:46.91 |
| 2 | Freya Tarbit | GBR | 12 | 5.57 | 5.52 | 53.91 | 54.00 | 1:47.91 |
| 3 | Viktoria Dönicke | GER | 16 | 5.22 | 5.23 | 53.96 | 54.00 | 1:47.96 |
| 4 | Julia Erlacher | AUT | 7 | 5.40 | 5.38 | 53.83 | 54.16 | 1:47.99 |
| 5 | Sara Schmied | SUI | 11 | 5.60 | 5.60 | 53.85 | 54.28 | 1:48.13 |
| 6 | Darta Zunte | EST | 5 | 5.74 | 5.68 | 54.16 | 54.03 | 1:48.19 |
| 7 | Hanna Staub | GER | 6 | 5.78 | 5.73 | 54.22 | 54.15 | 1:48.37 |
| 8 | Annia Unterscheider | AUT | 8 | 5.79 | 5.79 | 54.55 | 54.20 | 1:48.75 |
| 9 | Isabella Fassnidge | GBR | 21 | 5.49 | 5.45 | 54.44 | 54.35 | 1:48.79 |
| 10 | Viktoria Hansova | GER | 9 | 5.58 | 5.56 | 54.46 | 54.49 | 1:48.95 |
| 11 | Julia Simmchen | GER | 20 | 5.92 | 5.86 | 54.90 | 54.62 | 1:49.52 |
| 12 | Ashlyn Bland | GBR | 1 | 5.48 | 5.42 | 54.85 | 55.25 | 1:50.10 |
| 13 | Alessia Gatti | ITA | 18 | 5.32 | 5.29 | 54.75 | 55.44 | 1:50.19 |
| 14 | Angel Osakue | ITA | 14 | 5.73 | 5.65 | 55.73 | 55.35 | 1:51.08 |
| 15 | Carolin Alexa Andrë | SUI | 13 | 5.58 | 6.22 | 54.95 | 56.38 | 1:51.33 |
| 16 | Clara Aznar | ESP | 4 | 5.66 | 5.63 | 55.78 | 55.91 | 1:51.69 |
| 17 | Paulina Ewald Grondal | SWE | 3 | 6.22 | 6.27 | 56.03 | 55.96 | 1:51.99 |
| 18 | Annelies Van Dijk | NED | 15 | 5.74 | 5.84 | 56.71 | 56.24 | 1:52.95 |
| 19 | Serena Juan | ESP | 2 | 5.83 | 5.85 | 56.66 | 57.32 | 1:53.98 |
| 20 | Agurtzane Castrillo | ESP | 19 | 6.68 | 6.82 | 57.10 | 57.77 | 1:54.87 |
| 21 | Federica Voghera | ITA | 17 | 5.78 | 57.57 |
