A Lichfield teenager has become the first British junior champion of an endurance sport that she hopes will one day take her to the Olympics.
Libbie Joyce competed against more than 100 under 18s at the first ever British Obstacle Course and Running (OCR) Junior Championships in Milton Keynes.
The 15-year-old completed the gruelling 7km off-road endurance event to scoop the title.
The medal came just weeks after she was crowned Spartan European 14-17 champion in October, completing a 13-mile course around Pippingford in London, where she finished more than an hour ahead of the silver medalist with no penalties.
Her achievements mean she has now qualified as an elite – rather than junior – athlete for the 2023 OCR European Championships in Hungary and the OCR World Championships in California.
Libbie, who attends The Friary School and lives in Fradley, said:
“It’s so good for the sport to have a UK championship, giving us juniors a goal to work towards and I hope it will inspire more kids to try it.
“The British OCR Championship race was amazing and it’s looking more positive for OCR to be recognised as a professional sport. We’re one step closer to making the Olympics one day.
“For the UK to host the Spartan European championships as well was epic. I raced hard all year at Spartan races, just missing out by 19 points on the gold medal for the series and getting silver. This race meant so much to me and it was one I had really trained hard for.
“To come away with that gold was awesome and made all the long hours of training worthwhile.”
Libbie Joyce
Libbie is now looking forward to the new year after qualifying as an elite athlete for the European Championships in Hungary in June and the World Championships in California in October.
Next year will also be the first time she will step up to the ‘elite’ category at all Spartan race events.
“I am so excited to see what 2023 brings with over 30 races planned and to have that British Junior championship title will mean a lot.
“I know it will be incredibly hard stepping up to elite to race against the best in the UK with athletes a lot older than me but hopefully, over the next few years, they will help me improve and push me to be a top UK elite one day.”
Libbie Joyce
Legend!