Who is Sarah Storey? Know all about Great Britain's Paralympian who has 17 gold medals

Great Britain’s Dame Sarah Storey scripted history to become the country’s most successful Paralympian after winning her 17th Paralympics Gold medal on September 2. This Gold was also Storey’s third gold medal in the ongoing Tokyo Paralympics 2020. She has won the gold medals in the cycling event of Women’s pursuit C5, Women’s time trial C5 and the Women’s road race C4-5 categories.

"I just wanted to be a British Athlete": Sarah Storey

In pursuit of her 17th gold medal in the Paralympics, the cycling star initially trailed behind veteran German Kerstin Brachtendorf at the Fuji International Speedway but made a strong comeback to cross the finish line with an impressive timing of 2:21:51. Storey broke the British national record previously held by Mike Kenny, who won 16 gold medals. As reported by Sky Sports, Storey expressed her feelings on becoming her country's most successful Paralympian. She said, "I just wanted to be a British athlete, I wanted to compete for my country for as long as I possibly could, and to still be going strong in Games number eight is truly amazing. I never felt a weight on my shoulders. It is the sweetest feeling to know that I go back to my room and there's a couple of gold medals in the safe to put this one with and that makes that tally very real then".

The 43-year-old Sarah Storey is a mother of two and made her first appearance at the Paralympics in the 1992 Barcelona edition as a swimmer. She has a total of 28 Paralympics medals, out of which 17 are gold. Her first five golds came in the pool and she made her cycling debut at the Beijing Paralympics in 2008. She has appeared in a total of eight Paralympic Games for Great Britain since her debut in 1992. 

Storey was born without a functioning left hand as her arm became entangled in the umbilical cord in her mother’s womb and it didn’t develop as a normal hand. She suffered bullying as a child in school and also faced eating disorder issues at school. She joined a swimming club for the first time at age of 10-years-old. She went on to debut at the Paralympics in 1992 and returned with two golds, three silvers and a bronze medal at the age of 14. After switching to cycling in 2005, following her ear infection, Storey debuted as a cyclist in the Beijing Paralympics 2008.

(Image source: AP)