Pure Gold: Schoolgirl Freya earns England call-up after 200m win in national championships

WINNER: Freya Vidal, centre, takes Gold at the England Schools Championships. Picture credit: RWT Photography

By Simon Bristow

A schoolgirl athlete from Beverley will represent her country for the first time on Saturday after winning 200m Gold in the England Schools Championships.

Freya Vidal, 15, pulled off a stunning victory in the ESAA Championships in Manchester last Saturday, coming from behind to narrowly beat a rival from Hampshire with an ultra-professional “dip” on the line.

She did not realise she had won until hearing her name announced moments later.

That win was all the more impressive as she was competing against older girls in the Under-17 bracket. Freya, who was representing Humberside, will now run for England at the SIAB Championships at the Mary Peters Track in Belfast on Saturday, where she will compete against sprinters from Scotland, Wales, and Ireland.

Freya, who is naturally a strong finisher, said she could not bear the prospect of being beaten as she neared the line in Manchester with a Gold Medal at stake.

NUMBER ONE: Freya Vidal on the podium after winning Gold in the 200m. Picture credit: RWT Photography

“I don’t like coming second,” she said. “It’s kind of losing out, especially if it’s really close. I kind of just pushed and managed to have that dip at the end. I know I can push at the end. I know I can keep going.

“As soon as I crossed the line I thought ‘that’s really close’, but I didn’t know I’d won until a couple of seconds later when the commentator said my name.”

Freya, a pupil at Longcroft School in Beverley, appears to have a very bright future in sprinting as she enters elite junior athletics for the first time.

She has continued getting quicker and better since she began running with her older brother, Fabian, aged seven. Freya soon realised she was faster than most when she began competing in school sports days and other events.

“I just beat everyone, even the boys,” she said. “And running with my brother, I always stuck with him.”

PROUD: Freya Vidal wearing her England kit for the first time

Freya initially joined Kingston AC in Hull but is now at City of York Athletics Club and being trained by coach Paul Daynes. Last year, she won her first national title in the 200m final for Under-15s at the annual England Athletics Championships. Her reputation continues to grow, and last week she was highly commended as young sports personality at the York Sports Awards 2022.

As well as her 200m specialism, Freya, who is from Leconfield, also runs in the 100m and 300m. She was among the top ten fastest in her age group in the country last year for all three distances.

Her Personal Best times are impressive - 12:26 for 100m, 24.72 for 200m, and 40.15 for 300m.

Freya will sit her GCSEs next year but has already set her sights on a career in athletics, which might not be a bad thing as she is “not a fan of school”. She will do her best academically, however, saying: “I know I need education to fall back on just in case something goes wrong.”

Her dream is to compete in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, and if she continues her meteoric rise Freya might soon have a big decision to make - whether to join Team GB or Jamaica, the latter of which she could qualify for through her paternal grandparents.

RECOGNITION: Freya was highly commended at York Sports Awards 2022

Freya said: “I’m undecided. It’s wherever there’s a slot available. I’ve always wanted to run for Jamaica because of Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, but I’ve lived here my whole life so I would be delighted to run for GB. I’m stuck between both of them.”

For now, though, Freya is simply focused on her next race, in which she will again be supported by her parents Deborah and Tony - who may be more nervous than she is.

Deborah said she is pleased Freya will now have the support of the England team to help her with race preparation so she “doesn’t need her Dad to warm her up”.

She said: “It will be really nice just to turn up at an event without any extra pressure, just the nerves. I think it’s good that Freya’s going with the team - it makes them grow up a lot and they have to look after their own things.

“I’m just so proud of her and what she’s achieved at such a young age. I’ll be proud of her wherever she finishes; to come one to eight at that level is amazing. I think I cried when she brought the England kit down the other day and she had ‘England’ on her back.”

• Anyone interested in sponsoring Freya can email Deborah Vidal on Deborahv6@hotmail.co.uk