Seven time Paralympic gold medalist Sarah Storey is an extraordinary athlete. Her 18 year career is littered with records and medals and she is now considering making an appearance in the able bodied Olympics. Following her two latest cycling records at this year’s World Championships in November, the former Olympic swimming champion talks to Sportsister about her transition to cycling, making the switch to the able bodied and the Deloitte Ride across Britain event.
On winning two gold medals and breaking both records at this year’s World Championships: I am delighted, to come from the road world championships with two gold medals in Italy then straight on to the track with a relatively short preparation period and to go faster than Beijing in both events was just a real surprise and obviously very welcome.
On making the transition from swimming to cycling: I never expected to change sports in the first place. I thought I was a swimmer through and through but a series of ear infections that were affecting my training in the pool in 2005 meant I couldn’t train for quite long periods and the doctors were worried my ears were going to end up severely damaged from the infections.
When I wasn’t allowed to swim I was training on a bike and then eventually racing on the bike. Then in August of 2005 I broke the 3000 metres record and then was given the opportunity to go back to swimming or move on with cycling.
After a lengthy discussion with my swimming coach he said you’ve done as much as you can in the pool you can’t really be honest with yourself if you say you haven’t. You’ve done absolutely everything you wanted and more and this is an opportunity too good to miss. So I put my swimming career very much to bed and that’s something I’m very happy to have done.
I don’t regret leaving swimming; I had a fabulous time whilst I was doing it but now I’m all focused on cycling.
…………………………………………………………………………………………
Related stories
Cycling: Storey cleans up on day three at World Championships
Cycling: Storey continues to re-write paralympic script
…………………………………………………………………………………………
On the Deloitte Ride across Britain: The Ride across Britain was something that was mentioned to me at the Paralympics World Cup earlier this year. I’ve always wanted to do the end to end since I started cycling in 2005 so I was really enthusiastic and then as I found out more and more about it, it was just the perfect match really.
The event is raising money for Paralympics GB which is ultimately supporting myself and my team mates to make it to 2012, no one has been selected yet but it is good for the future of those sports. It’s very exciting to have the opportunity to work at it whilst also achieving a personal goal as well. So I think it works very well for everybody.
On making the transition to the able bodied Olympics: I have very much made my situation and my ambitions known. I have already been in discussion as to if I can, not switch programmes but work along side the para-cyling and the Olympic programmes within British Cycling as a kind of double membership.
The competitions they do don’t ever clash with the ones I do so that will just give me extra competition options and the opportunity to improve further, so I am in discussion as to how soon that may happen and whether I need to improve anymore.
I said after the world championships on the track that I wanted to break the able bodied world record in the 3000 metres which is the event I won in three minutes 34 seconds.
It is a long term goal and it’s something that may happen in the next three or four years, it is always there as a target and I think it is a really good target to have.
It is in my vision and something I would always love to do but something I have always tried to make very clear is that I am a Paralympian first and foremost. That’s what’s got me to where I am so I would never want to do the Olympics at the expense of the Paralympics. It would just be something that’s done to compliment each other.
On her seven gold medals: They are all as special as each other. Some of them are won with slightly more adversity than others. The persuit in Beijing for example when it was 23 one hundredths of a second margin of victory. But they are all as special and I think one of the things I have learnt as you get older is you just have to do what you can and really appreciate what you have because you know once you stop winning then all you have done is very important.
You’ve just go to make the most of the ones you’ve won and enjoy those moments whilst you can because you are a long time retired.
For more information on The Deloitte Ride Across Britain mass participation event, please visit www.rideacrossbritain.com
Erin Healey, Sportsister
The Women´s Sport Magazine
