Dame Sarah Storey, Britain’s most successful Paralympian, shares her journey from swimming to cycling while grappling with bullying and funding disparities. She discusses collaborating with local leaders to enhance cycling infrastructure and her ambitions for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. Listeners will also enjoy her humorous take on how she stores her impressive collection of medals and her upcoming challenge on Dancing on Ice. With insights into the challenges female athletes face, Sarah inspires with her resilience and commitment to advocacy.
Sarah Storey emphasizes the impact of childhood support and the importance of managing personal challenges like bullying and health issues on her athletic journey.
She advocates for gender equality in sports, highlighting the disparities in sponsorship and prize money while also engaging in public service for cycling initiatives.
Deep dives
A Champion's Legacy
Sarah Storey is recognized as Britain's most successful Paralympian, boasting an extraordinary array of achievements including 45 world championships and 30 Paralympic medals, 19 of which are gold. She shares that despite her impressive record, her medals are stored in a sock drawer, highlighting the down-to-earth attitude many athletes maintain towards their accolades. Storey reflects on her active childhood, where she participated in various sports from a young age, which laid the foundation for her future success. Furthermore, she emphasizes the importance of her supportive parents who helped navigate the challenges of balancing sport and a social life during her formative years.
Overcoming Challenges
Throughout her career, Storey faced significant obstacles, including bullying in school due to her athletic achievements and health issues like chronic fatigue syndrome. Initially, after returning from her first games at 14, she was ostracized for her success, which led to struggles with self-identity and an eating disorder. With guidance from her parents and friends in sports, she learned to manage these adversities while maintaining her passion for athletics. Additionally, she describes the importance of understanding one's own body and training needs, which was a critical lesson learned through trial and error during her recovery from illness.
Transitioning to Cycling
At the end of 2005, Storey made a pivotal decision to switch from swimming to cycling, encouraged by her coach, who recognized her talent in the new sport. Despite initial setbacks, including ear infections that forced her to limit her swimming, she found success in cycling much sooner than anticipated by winning gold in her first Paralympics as a cyclist in Beijing 2008. Storey describes the stark differences between the swimming and cycling communities, noting that cyclists tend to be older and more experienced, fostering a level of camaraderie absent in her earlier experiences as a swimmer. This transition allowed her to redefine her athletic career and pursue new challenges at the highest levels.
Advocacy and Future Aspirations
Aside from her athletic achievements, Storey is passionate about advocating for the inclusion and equality of women in sports, particularly within cycling. She addresses the disparities in sponsorship and prize money between men's and women's events, emphasizing the ongoing need for progress in this area. Moreover, Storey shares her involvement in public service roles related to cycle safety and urban transport initiatives, showcasing her commitment to making a broader impact beyond athletics. Looking ahead, she expresses excitement about the upcoming Olympic Games in Los Angeles and her determination to continue competing at a high level while balancing her responsibilities as a mother.
Dame Sarah Storey is Britain’s most successful Paralympian of all time. She is a 45-time World champion, a 23-time European champion, and a 77-time world recorder breaker – including times she broke her own records. Earlier this year she won her 18th and 19th Olympic golds at the Paris 2024 games.
On the podcast, Sarah talks to Katy Balls about switching from swimming to cycling, the influence of bullying at school and the funding disparity that Paralympians face. She also talks about working with Dan Jarvis and Andy Burnham on improving cycling infrastructure, as well as her preparations for the next Olympics – Los Angeles 2028. Plus, where does she keep all those medals?
Produced by Patrick Gibbons.
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