A success Storey! Sarah scoops 15th gold medal
CYCLIST Dame Sarah Storey led Britain’s medal charge in Tokyo yesterday with the 15th gold of her career – and she could become our most successful Paralympian ever if she repeats the feat next week.
The 43-year-old set another world record in the C5 3,000m individual pursuit. She beat her team-mate Crystal Lane-Wright, who took silver.
Dame Sarah fought back tears as she thought of her husband and two children, who were unable to join her in Japan. ‘Racing in a pandemic is hard,’ she said. ‘But it’s when you want to celebrate you realise you don’t have your friends and family here. We can celebrate with the team, which is amazing, but there is a bigger team behind the team you see here today and now, more than ever, they’re missed.’
Back home in Cheshire, husband Barney, 44, made sure Louise, eight, and four-year-old Charlie were up early to see her win.
Dame Sarah, born without a functioning left hand because her arm got tangled in the umbilical cord in the womb, won her first seven golds in the pool after making her Paralympic debut in 1992. She returns to the track on Tuesday when she could draw level with swimmer Mike Kenny as Britain’s greatest medal winner.