27 Sep 2010

Paralympian rides at Commonwealth Games

Sarah Storey will be the first Paralympic cyclist to compete against able-bodied athletes at the Commonwealth Games. The 32-year old has told Channel 4 News she can’t wait to get to Delhi.

Sarah Storey’s team-mates call her a motorbike because she “leads from the front and rips it up”.

The swimmer turned cyclist has won 18 Paralympic medals but her biggest achievement is arguably still to come.

Sarah, who was born with a deformed left hand, will compete against able-bodied riders at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi; a first for English cycling.

She told Channel 4 News she was delighted to be selected: “It’s just amazing. It’s hard to put into words. I’ve got the kit, I’ve got my plane ticket and it’s all happening so I’m just really excited.”

It’s just amazing. It’s hard to put into words. I’ve got the kit, I’ve got my plane ticket and it’s all happening so I’m just really excited. Sarah Storey

Sarah’s sporting career began in 1992 at the Barcelona Paralympics when she was just 14-years old. She struck double gold in the swimming pool.

But in 2005 fate intervened. Sarah began to pick up ear infections and was forced to stay out of the water.

In a bid to stay fit she turned to cycling: “British Cycling spotted me training at the Manchester Velodrome during a public session and wondered why there was a swimmer on a bike and asked if I wanted to do a lab test. The score was better than they’d expected it to be.

“They said ‘if you do a bit of training, lose those shoulders you could be quite a good cyclist’.

“It kind of went from there and by the time my ears were better and I was allowed to go back in the pool I’d already won a European title and broken a word record on a bike….so I chose to switch.”

Sarah Storey powers to Paralympic cycling gold (Getty)

Swimming’s loss was cycling’s gain.

Sarah is going to Delhi with high hopes: “My ultimate aim is to get out a really good qualification ride that gets me into the second round which is the medal rides..so in the individual pursuit the top four riders from the qualification go to ride off for the medals.

“To get a second ride would be an amazing achievement for me and I’d really hope to do a personal best time in getting there and I think I’ll have to based on the strength that we have.

“The Commonwealth Games individual pursuit event will be similar to a World Championship.”

Sarah flies to India on Wednesday. Despite some high profile call-offs the 32-year old is confident the Games will be a success: “We had similar issues in the run up to Athens: it wasn’t going to be safe, it wasn’t going to be finished. Beijing was going to be something else.

“Every Games has had its issues and the media always seem to blow it out of proportion in many ways.

“There are problems and it is a tragedy about the bridge collapsing. I know the Indians have been working really hard to bring a fantastic Games and they’re really excited and very proud but an athletes’ village being filthy at this stage is not unusual and it’s quite normal for a management team to go in there and clean it.

“Those kind of things are all part and parcel of the rich tapestry of doing an event of this kind.”

Once the Commonwealth Games are finished Sarah will turn her attention to London 2012. She aims to compete in both the Olympics and Paralympics as a cyclist; a feat achieved by only a handful of athletes worldwide.

For more on the Paralympics go to http://paralympics.channel4.com/