Dame Sarah Storey DBE

Dame Sarah Storey grew up in Cheshire where she first aimed to become an athlete. Facing numerous challenges at a young age, including being bullied at school, an eating disorder, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and disability discrimination from a coach in her university town, she didn’t let these deter her from reaching her goals.

Known as Britain’s Greatest Paralympian, Sarah has won more medals than any other athlete competing for Great Britain. Having competed across 8 Paralympic Games in two sports, she has accumulated an amazing 28 Paralympic medals.

Between 1992 and 2005, Sarah competed for the Britain Para-Swim Team. However, after being forced to take a break from swimming due to a series of painful ear infections, she discovered her second passion: cycling. Much of her conditioning training in 2005 had to be done on a bike and by the end of the year, she had broken the world record for the Paracycling 3,000m Individual Pursuit.

Sarah topped the London 2012 Paralympic Games medal table with 4 Golds across 4 events before taking a break to have her first child. She returned to competition in 2014 by achieving a world record at the 2014 World Track Championships. This incredible comeback set the stage for her 7th Paralympic Games in Rio, where she won a stage of the Tour de Bretagne, an additional 4 Para-Cycling World titles, a bronze in the National Time Trial Championships, and the able-bodied National Points Race title. A little over a year after the Rio Games, she gave birth to her second child and returned to competition just 9 months later, winning another 2 Gold medals at the 2018 Road World Championships. As a mom of 2 in her 40s, Dame Sarah continues to compete at an elite level and exceed expectations.

In addition to her illustrious sports career, Sarah set up her own cycling team, taking it to UCI level in 2016. She has a Sports Science Degree and has been a volunteer coach for over 20 years. Sarah has traveled the world as an ambassador for sport, was awarded the MBE in the 1998 New Year’s Honours List, and then received an OBE in the 2009 New Year’s Honours List for her services to disabled sports. Further recognizing her Para-sport career, Sarah was made a Dame in the 2013 New Year’s Honours List. Throughout her career, she has also been nominated for many prestigious awards including the Laureus World Sports Award and the BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 2012, 2016, and 2021.

Sarah shares her secrets to success, passion, and ability to find positives in challenging situations in keynote speeches at events worldwide. She is a captivating and articulate keynote speaker who can deliver both motivational and after-dinner speeches. Her firm belief in continually challenging herself inspires audiences of all demographics, from young people starting their sports careers to corporate audiences looking to improve team morale and achieve upcoming targets. Drawing on her previous experiences, her honest and engaging approach always resonates with clients, as does her ability to adapt her style to suit different audiences. She is always happy to adjust the duration, content, and messages of her talks to complement the theme of individual events.

Her incredible successes make her a sought-after athlete for mentoring opportunities, endorsements, public appearances, and corporate keynotes and events.