British superstar Dame Sarah Storey has won her 19th Paralympic gold medal.
Storey, Britain’s most successful Paralympian of all time competing at her ninth Games, clinched her 30th medal overall with a dramatic victory in the women’s C4-5 road race early on day nine.
The 46-year-old produced a brilliant sprint finish during a thrilling finale to Friday morning’s headline 71km event, reeling in and just beating out Heïdi Gaugain in a time of one hour, 54 minutes and 24 seconds and forcing the French cyclist to settle for silver. Bronze went to Paula Ossa of Colombia.
It is Storey’s second gold at Paris 2024 so far, after she also won the women’s C5 time trial on Wednesday despite complaints over an “appalling” course.
Of her latest meal win, Storey said: "It's amazing, really amazing – I'm just delighted that my wheel was in front at the finish."
Here are some more facts abut the star athlete.
Storey’s setting records
To date, 14 of Storey’s 30 total Paralympic medals have come in cycling, all of them golds, having switched sports in 2005 due to a serious ear infection. She debuted at Beijing in 2008 after previously claiming a haul of 16 medals – including five golds – for swimming between 1992 and 2004.
Storey’s latest triumph further cements her status as the most decorated British Paralympian ever, with 10 more medals won than former swimmer Janice Burton, who claimed 20 between 1984 and ’96.
Switching sports
This is Dame Sarah Storey’s ninth Games – the most for a British athlete.
Starting her career as a swimmer, she made her Paralympic debut at the 1992 Games in Barcelona at the age of just 14. There she won two golds, three silvers and a bronze.
She then competed in swimming for the next three Paralympics – in 1996, 2000 and 2004 – winning 10 more medals, before deciding to switch sports to cycling after suffering a severe ear infection which affected her ability to train and compete.
Storey was given a bike to enable her to keep fit during one of these periods and she came to love the sport. Because of funding, she had to pick between the two and opted for cycling.
Storey’s home life
Sarah’s entire family was there to watch her pick up yet more medals this week.
She married her then coach Barney Storey in 2007 and the pair share two children; Louisa aged 11 and Charlie aged seven.
Storey’s disability
Sarah Storey’s disability is one she was born with.
While in the womb, her left arm became entangled in the umbilical cord, which affected the arm’s development and function, leaving her born with a left hand that was considered underdeveloped. But that did not stop her from pursuing sports, joining her first swimming club aged 10.
She said she was bullied at school but, with support from her parents, she focused on sport and went from strength to strength.
Her honours
Dame Sarah was first awarded an MBE in 1998, and an OBE after the Beijing Olympics in 2009. In 2013, following the London Olympics, she was made Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for her services to para cycling.
