# Sarah Storey

Dame Sarah Joanne Storey (née Bailey; born 26 October 1977) is a British cyclist and swimmer, a multiple gold medallist in the Paralympic Games, and six times British (able-bodied) national track champion (2 × Pursuit, 1 × Points, 3 × Team Pursuit).
Her total of 30 Paralympic medals, including 19 gold medals, makes her the most successful (by gold medals) and most decorated (by total medals) British Paralympian of all time as well as one of the most decorated Paralympic athletes of all time. She has the unique distinction of winning five gold medals in Paralympics before turning 19.
Storey's major achievements include being a 29-time World champion (6 in swimming and 23 in cycling), a 21-time European champion (18 in swimming and 3 in cycling) and holding 75 world records. She is regarded as one of the most experienced campaigners in the history of the Paralympics as she took part at the Paralympics on nine occasions between 1992 and 2024.
For several years at her peak, Storey's progress was such that she was competitive at able-bodied elite level on the track, and for a period was in the Great Britain Olympic squad programme for team pursuit. She won a number of UCI Track Cycling World Cup gold medals in team pursuit in that period, and narrowly missed the (able-bodied) women's hour world record by less than 600 metres, taking the national record. She remains the current para world record holder in women's 3000m individual pursuit and hour record.
On 2 September 2021, she surpassed Mike Kenny's 16 Paralympic gold medal record to become Great Britain's most successful Paralympic athlete of all time after securing her 17th Paralympic gold medal when she won the women's road race C4-5 event.

## Early life

Storey was born Sarah Bailey in Manchester without a functioning left hand after her arm became entangled in the umbilical cord in the womb and the hand did not develop as normal. As a schoolgirl, she was subjected to bullying by her school mates and also faced eating disorder issues at school. She joined her first swimming club at the age of ten and was told by her coach that she had started her training too late to be good at anything.

## Swimming at the Paralympic Games

Storey began her Paralympic career as a swimmer, winning two golds, three silvers and a bronze in Barcelona in 1992 at the age of 14.
She retained her Paralympic gold medals in women's 100m backstroke and 200m individual medley events at the 1996 Summer Paralympics. Despite the diagnosis of chronic fatigue syndrome (ME), she continued to participate in swimming and claimed four silver medals and a solitary bronze in the next two Paralympic Games in 2000 and 2004 before quitting the sport.

## Cycling

At the 2008 Paralympic Games, her fifth, Storey won the individual pursuit – in a time that would have been in the top eight at the Olympic final – and the Women's road time trial.
Storey also competes against non-disabled athletes and won the 3 km national track pursuit championship in 2008, eight days after taking the Paralympic title, and successfully defended her title in 2009. In 2014, she added a third national track title with a win in the points race.
Storey qualified to join the England team for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, where she was "the first disabled cyclist to compete for England at the Commonwealth Games", against non-disabled cyclists. She was also the second Paralympic athlete overall competing for England at the Games, following archer Danielle Brown earlier in Delhi.
In 2011, Storey competed for one of the three places in the GB squad for the women's team pursuit at the 2012 Olympic Games. Although she was in the winning team for the World Cup event in Cali, Colombia in December 2011, she was informed afterwards that she was being dropped from the team pursuit squad.
London's 2012 Paralympics Games saw Storey win Britain's first gold medal, in the women's individual C5 pursuit. She went on to win three more gold medals, one in the Time Trial C4–5 500m, one in the Individual Road Time Trial C5 and finally one in the Individual Road Race C4–5.
In 2014, Storey and her husband Barney Storey founded the Pearl Izumi Sports Tours International women's amateur cycling team, supporting the charity Boot Out Breast Cancer. The team fielded squads in the 2014 and 2015 British road race seasons.
Storey attempted to break the world hour record at the Lee Valley VeloPark in London on 28 February 2015. She set a distance of 45.502 km, which was 563m short of Leontien Zijlaard-van Moorsel's 2003 overall world record – however Storey's distance did set a new world record in the C5 Paralympic cycling class as well as a new British record.
In the Rio 2016 Paralympics Storey became Britain's most successful female Paralympian when she won the C5 3000m individual pursuit final.
She became the first athlete to win the gold medal for Great Britain at the 2020 Summer Paralympics when she defended her Paralympic title in the women's individual pursuit C5 event. It was also her fifth Paralympic gold medal in track cycling and her tenth Paralympic gold medal in women's cycling. It was also her record 15th gold medal in her Paralympic career. During the qualifying heat event at the 2020 Summer Paralympics she broke her own world record by four seconds in the individual pursuit C5 category.
In 2024 she won at the Paris Paralympics her 18th Games gold medal, winning the women's road event for a fifth successive Paralympics.

## Personal life

Storey married tandem pilot and coach Barney Storey in 2007. She gave birth to a daughter on 30 June 2013 and a son on 14 October 2017. She and her husband live in Disley, Cheshire.
In April 2019, Storey was appointed Active Travel Commissioner for the Sheffield City Region. In April 2024 Storey was elected as President of Lancashire County Cricket Club.
Storey is related to the screenwriter Danny Brocklehurst.

## Honours

Storey was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1998 New Year Honours "for services to Swimming for People with Disabilities". Following the Beijing Games, she was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2009 New Year Honours "for services to Disabled Sport." In 2012, she was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Manchester. Following the 2012 London Games, she was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours "for services to para-cycling".
Storey was a nominee for the 2008 Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year with a Disability and the 2012 BBC Sports Personality of the Year. She won The Sunday Times Disability Sportswoman of the Year in 2020, her win being officially announced in an online ceremony. Storey was a nominee for the 2024 BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

## Major results

1992
    Paralympic Games
       1st 100 m Backstroke
       1st 200 m Individual Medley
       2nd 400 m Freestyle
       2nd 4x100 m Freestyle
       2nd 4x100 m Medley
       3rd 100 m Freestyle
1994
    World Para Swimming Championships
       1st 200 m Individual Medley
       1st 100 m Breaststroke
       2nd 100 m Backstroke
       2nd 400 m Freestyle
       3rd 4x100 m Medley
1996
    Paralympic Games
       1st 100 m Breaststroke
       1st 100 m Backstroke
       1st 200 m Individual Medley
       2nd 400 m Freestyle
       3rd 100 m Freestyle
1998
    World Para Swimming Championships
       2nd 100 m Backstroke
       2nd 4x100 m Medley
       3rd 400 m Freestyle
       3rd 200 m Individual Medley
       3rd 100 m Breaststroke
       3rd 4x100 m Freestyle
2000
    Paralympic Games
       2nd 100 m Backstroke
       2nd 4x100 m Medley
2002
    World Para Swimming Championships
       1st 100 m Freestyle
       1st 400 m Freestyle
       1st 200 m Individual Medley
       2nd 100 m Backstroke
       3rd 50 m Freestyle
2004
    Paralympic Games
       2nd 100 m Breaststroke
       2nd 200 m Individual Medley
       3rd 100 m Freestyle
2005
    European Para-cycling Championships
       1st Road Race
       1st Individual Pursuit
       1st 500m Time Trial
       2nd Time Trial
    European Open Para-cycling Championships
       1st Road Race
       1st Individual Pursuit
       2nd 500m Time Trial
       3rd Time Trial
    National Track Championships
       7th Individual Pursuit
2006
    UCI Track Para-cycling World Championships
       1st Individual Pursuit
       3rd 500m Time Trial
    National Track Championships
       1st Para-cycling Individual Pursuit
       3rd Individual Pursuit
       7th 500m Time Trial
    UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships
       2nd Road Race
       2nd Time Trial
2007
    UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships
       1st Individual Pursuit
       3rd 500m Time Trial
    National Road Championships
       1st Para-cycling Road Race
    National Track Championships
       1st Para-cycling Individual Pursuit
       7th 500m Time Trial
    UCI Paralympic World Cup
       1st Individual Pursuit
       1st 500m Time Trial
2008
    Paralympic Games
       1st Time Trial
       1st Individual Pursuit
    National Track Championships
       1st Individual Pursuit
    UCI Paralympic World Cup
       1st Individual Pursuit
       3rd 500m Time Trial
2009
    UCI Track Para-cycling World Championships
       1st Individual Pursuit
       1st 500m Time Trial
    UCI Road Para-cycling World Championships
       1st Road Race
       1st Time Trial
    UCI Masters Road Para-cycling World Championships
       1st Time Trial
       2nd Road Race
    National Track Championships
       1st Individual Pursuit
    UCI Paralympic World Cup
       1st Individual Pursuit
       1st 500m Time Trial
2010
    UCI Road Para-cycling World Championships
       1st Road Race
       1st Time Trial
    National Track Championships
       1st Team Pursuit
       2nd Individual Pursuit
       6th Commonwealth Games, Individual Pursuit
    1st Overall 2 Days of Bedford International Stage Race
       1st Stages 1 & 2
    9th National Road Championships, Road Race
2011
    UCI Track Para-cycling World Championships
       1st Individual Pursuit
       1st 500m Time Trial
    UCI Road Para-cycling World Championships
       1st Road Race
       1st Time Trial
    National Track Championships
       1st Team Pursuit
       4th Individual Pursuit
    1st Overall 2 Days of Bedford International Stage Race
       1st Mountains classification
       1st Stages 1 & 2
    UCI Track Cycling World Cup–Manchester
       1st Team Pursuit
    Sydney Road World Cup
       1st Road Race
       1st Time Trial
    1st Blenheim Palace Time Trial Event
    3rd National Road Championships, Time Trial
2012
    Paralympic Games
       1st Individual Pursuit
       1st 500m Time Trial
       1st Time Trial
       1st Road Race
    2012 UCI Track Para-cycling World Championships
       1st Individual Pursuit
       1st Time Trial
       2nd Team Sprint
    UCI Track Cycling World Cup–Cali
       1st Team Pursuit
    1st Overall Essex Giro Stage Race
    1st Blenheim Palace Time Trial
    1st Curlew Cup Road Race
    1st Caperwry Road Race
    1st Cheshire Classic Road Race
    9th Overall Tour du Limousin
2014
    2014 UCI Track Para-cycling World Championships
       1st Individual Pursuit
       1st Scratch Race
       3rd 500m Time Trial
    2014 UCI Road Para-cycling World Championships
       1st Road Race
       1st Time Trial
    National Track Championships
       1st Points Race
       2nd Team Pursuit
    1st Overall Essex Giro Stage Race
    1st Cheshire Classic Road Race
    1st Stage 2 Tour de Bretagne Feminine
    3rd National Road Championships, Time Trial
2015
    2015 UCI Track Para-cycling World Championships
       1st Individual Pursuit
       2nd 500m Time Trial
    2015 UCI Road Para-cycling World Championships
       1st Road Race
       1st Time Trial
    National Track Championships
       1st Team Pursuit
    1st Cheshire Classic Road Race
    1st Overall National Time Trial Series
    3rd National Road Championships, Time Trial
    3rd Points Race, Revolution – Round 4, Glasgow
2016
    Paralympic Games
       1st Individual Pursuit
       1st Time Trial
       1st Road Race
    2016 UCI Track Para-cycling World Championships
       1st Individual Pursuit
       2nd 500m Time Trial
       2nd Scratch Race
    3rd National Road Championships, Time Trial
2017
    National Track Championships
       3rd Team Pursuit
2019
    2019 UCI Track Para-cycling World Championships
       1st Individual Pursuit
2020
    2019 UCI Track Para-cycling World Championships
       1st Individual Pursuit
       1st Scratch Race
       1st Omnium
2020
    Paralympic Games
       1st Individual Pursuit
       1st Time Trial
       1st Road Race

### World records

| Date | Discipline | Time | Event | Location |
| 14 August 2005 | 3000m Individual Pursuit (LC 1) | 4'01"140 | | Alkmaar, Netherlands |
| 11 September 2006 | 3000m Individual Pursuit (LC 1) | 3'53"107 | | Aigle, Switzerland |
| 12 September 2006 | 3000m Individual Pursuit (LC 1) | 3'51"666 | | Aigle, Switzerland |
| 22 August 2007 | 3000m Individual Pursuit (LC 1) | 3'48"622 | | Bordeaux, France |
| 10 September 2008 | 3000m Individual Pursuit (LC 1) | 3'36"637 | 2008 Paralympic Games | Beijing, China |
| 7 November 2009 | 3000m Individual Pursuit (LC 1) | 3'34"266 | | Manchester, Great Britain |
| 29 November 2011 | 3000m Individual Pursuit (C5) | 3'33"248 | | Manchester, Great Britain |
| 30 August 2012 | 3000m Individual Pursuit (C5) | 3'32"170 | 2012 Paralympic Games | London, Great Britain |
| 2 April 2014 | 3000m Individual Pursuit (C5) | 3'32"050 | | Aguascalientes, Mexico |
| 28 February 2015 | Hour record (C5) | 45.502 km | UCI Track Cycling World Cup | Lee Valley VeloPark, London, Great Britain |
| 8 September 2016 | 3000m Individual Pursuit (C5) | 3'31"394 | 2016 Paralympic Games | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |