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Dame Sarah Storey was born Sarah Bailey on October 26, 1977, in Manchester, without a functioning left hand, according to Wikipedia. She joined her first swimming club at 10, when a coach told her she had started too late to be good at anything. She proved that coach very wrong.
She began her Paralympic career in the pool at Barcelona 1992, winning two golds, three silvers and a bronze at 14, and is the only athlete to win five Paralympic golds before turning 19.
After switching to cycling she became good enough to race at able-bodied elite level on the track, joining the Great Britain Olympic squad programme for team pursuit and winning six British national titles. On September 2, 2021, she passed Mike Kenny's record with her 17th Paralympic gold, and at Paris 2024 she won the women's road event for a fifth straight Games.
She has 30 Paralympic medals, including 19 golds, from nine Games between 1992 and 2024, and has been world champion 29 times (six in swimming, 23 in cycling), European champion 21 times and set 75 world records.
She was made an OBE after Beijing 2008 and a Dame in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to para-cycling. She married tandem pilot and coach Barney Storey in 2007, and in April 2019 she became Active Travel Commissioner for the Sheffield City Region.
She and pro Julian Caillon left Strictly in Icons Week after a dance-off, then swapped warm goodbyes and plans for a bike ride, the Manchester Evening News reported. Read Sarah Storey bows out of Strictly, and visit the Julian Caillon hub.
Sources: Wikipedia
Our newest Sarah Storey story, from October 19, 2026, is "Dame Sarah Storey Bows Out of Strictly, and Her Goodbye to Julian Caillon Hints at a Very On-Brand Next Adventure": Britain's most decorated Paralympian became the third star to leave Strictly Come Dancing 2026 after an Icons Week dance-off, then posted the warmest goodbye to her pro partner.
19, among 30 Paralympic medals in total (Wikipedia).
Tandem pilot and coach Barney Storey, since 2007 (Wikipedia).
Julian Caillon (our story).
