Storey will have to cope without the support of husband Barney in Tokyo – but she is used to overcoming challenges
“I’m labelled ‘supermum’ more frequently than superhero but it’s just one of those things people call you,” explains Sarah Storey, with a smile and something close to a sigh. “Ultimately, I’m an ordinary person trying to do extraordinary things.”
Trying, and succeeding. Storey is already Britain’s most decorated female Paralympian, with her 14 gold medals placing her one ahead of former wheelchair racer Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson; now, as she heads to Tokyo for her eighth Paralympic Games next week, she has the overall top spot, occupied by swimmer Mike Kenny with 16 golds, in her sights.
Storey is 43 now, and a veteran of Paralympic Games stretching back to 1992 when she won gold medals in the pool as a wide-eyed 14-year-old. It was a first glimpse of her remarkable potential and her journey ever since has been one of unadulterated success, culminating in a Damehood in 2013, although you would never know it to talk to her.
To describe Storey as understated would be an almost comic understatement in itself. Born in Lancashire without a functioning left hand after her arm became entangled in the umbilical cord in the womb, Storey has never allowed all her subsequent glories to go to her head – although it helps having two children (Louisa, aged eight, and Charlie, aged three) who keep her grounded.
“I’m called a lot of things at home, being a parent, but ultimately I do feel like an ordinary girl,” she says. “I’ve worked incredibly hard to achieve the things I want – both for me personally but also because I want to see Louisa and Charlie’s reaction to it as well. I find that incredibly special.”
Family is a fundamental for Storey. Her husband since 2007 is Barney, a tandem pilot and coach, whom she married in 2007, and you will struggle to find a couple whose humble outlook on life is more at odds with their stellar achievements.
Storey is unwavering in her verdict that she would never have enjoyed such runaway success without Barney’s support, which makes his inability to travel to Tokyo due to Covid restrictions all the more jarring.
“Barney is the central part of everything. He’s the mechanic, he’s the eyes on the ground when my coach isn’t around, and he’s there looking after the house, making sure everything’s washed and that we’re fed. He is an absolute stalwart of everything I have done. It’s a huge undertaking for me to go anywhere from a competition perspective without him.
“The meticulous planning from him on my equipment side, I’ve got seven bike boxes, organised by him. I’ve got pages and pages of instruction manuals, spares – you name it he’s thought of it. He’s made sure that my saddle height is right. I’m incredibly sensitive and can tell if it’s even a millimeter out. All these things he’s preparing for me to make my life easier while I’m out there in Tokyo without him. That’s something I can never thank him enough for. He is an absolute star.”
The challenges for Storey do not end with Barney’s absence. There is the rising Covid infection rates in Tokyo, which prompted gloomy predictions from Games organisers on Friday, and the tedious rigmarole of quarantine and testing which will stretch every athlete’s patience to the limit.
Storey has experience to draw on – far more than most – but admits this represents a step into the unknown.
“The pandemic has created different things for different people,” she says. “I’ve been a consistent performer, and been someone always able to utilise my mental strength and draw on my experience. I’ve been to seven Games. This will be different but then we look back and no two Games are the same.
“You just try and control what you can. That means for us as a family right now we’re back into a quarantine to enable me to get on that flight with the least risk possible. It’s a huge team effort. It’s not just about those 228 athletes – it’s about the team behind them and the people they have left behind.
“But all that said, I’m really excited about the opportunity ahead of me. I never would have imagined when I started as a 14-year-old, and I came home from those Games as the youngest ever double gold medallist at the time, that I could be headed towards a target at the other end of the spectrum as a 43-year-old. I think I am the most decorated Paralympian [by overall medals] but I need to become the most successful – it’s a huge opportunity.”
Storey is forensic in her approach to her craft – she speaks lovingly of treating each Paralympics as a “jigsaw puzzle you try and finish every four or five years” – but fundamentally her desire to keep going is founded on a love of the sport and a desire to be successful.
“I love racing, I love training, and I love the opportunity to put a marker down. You look back at the work you’ve done and the decisions you’ve made under pressure and the different things you’ve tried to put into your programme and it’s almost within touching distance now. I’ve just got to keep my head down.”
Storey may have more than enough to keep her occupied in the short term, but she is also aware that with her achievements and reputation comes a responsibility to engage with the wider issues around the Paralympics.
Chief among them is exposure – and the yawning chasm that still exists in the public’s awareness of disabled sport and the coverage it receives.
“We certainly need a lot more broadcasting opportunities between the Paralympic Games,” Storey says. “I think that would make a huge difference to the athletes and the opportunities for athletes all the way through the pyramid.
“Not one of my 40 [para-cycling] world titles has been shown on a television screen. And it’s a real shame. You go into Games like Tokyo and nobody really knows that history of what you’ve done and how you’ve got there and what is a hugely important narrative.
“In general you can look across the Paralympic team and there’s a huge number of incredibly successful athletes. We simply don’t get the same coverage in quite the same way as our Olympic counterparts.”
Typically, though, Storey has a plan. And it goes beyond Tokyo to Paris. “Games number five on a bike would be the next target, really. If I go to Paris, my children Louise and Charlie could cycle there with me. That would be really cool. But for me at the moment the big focus is that the pedals are turning in the right way to be at the start line at the velodrome on Aug 25.”
Spoken like a true champion.