Sarah Storey

Sarah Storey or Dame Sarah Joanne Storey is a British gold medal winning Paralympic athlete in cycling and swimming, British track cycle champion, a motivational speaker, and sports coach. Storey began competing internationally aged just 14, which resulted in bullying at school, and she devloped disordered eating as a result, then chronic fatigue syndrome a few years after.

Storey fully recovered, and by 2020 she had became Britain's most decorated British Paralympian, with 17 gold medals won across eight different Paralympics. Storey is now in her 40s, still competing in elite competitions, having returned to full fitness twice more, after the birth of her two children.

Early life
Storey was born in Manchester, UK and swam from a young age. She was born without a functioning left hand and did not find this obstacle in her early years. She swam first with her junior school, and then with a local swimming club, before entering a gala in order to qualify to race at a higher level.

Bullying and disordered eating
In 2018, Dame Storey described being bullied as a teenager immediately after competing in her first Paralympics at age 14. As a result, Storey began to avoid eating, losing weight and developing disordered eating. With help from her doctor, she recovered and continued competing while at school.

Chronic fatigue syndrome
Sarah Storey became ill in her late teens with mononucleosis followed by Post-Viral Fatigue, which then developed into chronic fatigue syndrome. Storey was ill with chronic fatigue for four years during her early swimming career, which left her unable to swim.

Switch to cycling
Storey switched sports from swimming to cycling, after persistent ear infections in 2005 kept her from swimming. As a swimmer, Storey's races lasted no more than five minutes, but as a cyclist they last up to four hours, needing considerably more endurance. As a cyclist, Storey competes and wins in both able bodied and disabled classifications, particularly in track cycling events.

Talks and interviews

 * Dec 6, 2021, Exclusive Interview with Dame Sarah Storey: “Surviving the School Bully has equipped me for the challenges ahead” - The New Zealand Times
 * Sep 2, 2021, Sarah Storey: the one-woman gold medal factory still in full production - The Guardian
 * Sep 3, 2021, Q&A: Dame Sarah Storey - Cyclist magazine
 * Jan 12, 2021, Dame Sarah Storey speaks about her experience of bullying and disordered eating

Paralymics

 * Barcelona 1992 (swimming)
 * Atlanta 1996 (swimming)
 * Sydney 2000 (swimming)
 * Athens 2004 (swimming)
 * Beijing 2008 (cycling)
 * London 2012 (cycling)
 * Rio 2016 (cycling)
 * Tokyo 2020 (cycling)

Awards and honors

 * 1998, MBE
 * 1998, OBE
 * 2009, DBE, becoming Dame Sarah Storey.

Online presence

 * Twitter
 * Twitter - Team Storey
 * Facebook
 * Instagram
 * LinkedIn
 * Website
 * YouTube

Learn more

 * Dame Sarah Storey DBE - Team Storey Sport profile
 * Dame Sarah Storey OBE - Great Britain Cycling Team Rider Profile
 * Dame Sarah Storey DBE - Paralympics GB