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By Paula Planelles Manzanaro
London 2012 Games are getting closer and Sarah Storey, multiple gold medal winner at the Paralympics and twice British national track Champion, is working hard to win gold. As a Paralympic athlete Sarah Storey excels in every sport she has tried swimming, track and road cycling; now, the British athlete has been announced as an ambassador for Links of London, the creator of the Official Jewellery Collection of London 2012. When I caught up with Sarah we met at the velodrome for the UCI Track Cycling World Cup in London.
Sarah Storey’s remarkable list of achievements include her being at the top of the world rankings for cycling. She began her Paralympic career as a swimmer in Barcelona 1992 Games, when she won two gold medals, three silvers and a bronze at only 14 years old. Sarah continued swimming in the next Paralympic Games. But an infection in her ear forced her to leave swimming and switch to cycling in 2005.
Sarah describes swimming and cycling as both important in her platform towards her successful career as an athlete. “I was so young when I started swimming. This sport gave me experience and some instructions to follow. I think that the discipline that I acquired when I was swimming was very useful for my career as a cyclist. I don’t think I could have been good in cycling without swimming”, she told The London Daily News.
At the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games, her fifth Olympics, Storey won two cycling golds. In 2001, Storey won the 500m time trial and 3km pursuit at the World Track Paracycling Championships in Italy and two gold medals in the Paracyling Road World Cup, in the C5 road race and time trial.
The 34-year-old athlete has just come back from the UCI Paraclycling Track World Championships in LA, when she stroke Gold & New Record Times for Britain in the 500m sprint.
Dedication, resilience and hard work: the pillars of fame
Enjoying her passion is the key of her success. “You need to enjoy what you do. If you don’t enjoy something it’s too hard to focus on your career. In addition, the opportunity to become a model for the country is very encouraging and so valuable and it gives you ambition to continue working hard, to keep going”, she stated.
Training hard is also essential to become a leader in sports. “You have to be determined to train every day”, the athlete told The London Daily News. During her preparation for the London 2012 Paralympics, the athlete carries out different routes from three to six hours,
six days a week. “It is hard but you have to be constant”, she added.
According to Sarah Storey, “dedication, resilience and hard work” are the main qualities that athletes should have to achieve their aims. These qualities have been recognized by the creators of the Official Jewellery Collection of London 2012, Links of London, who have proclaimed her as one of its ambassadors. “Links of London will act as a symbol of everybody involved in the Games. Everybody from sport, media, arts, businesses can wear them and show their support to the team”, she commented.
These three qualities have let her become a world-famous athlete, despite her disability. For this reason, in the interview for The London Daily News, Storey wanted to show her support to athletes like her, who have to get over difficult moments in their lives: “Everybody who has a talent should try it because you never know when you will have your opportunity. In any sport or in any business, you can never give up because your chance could be around the corner. You have to focus on your dream. You never dream too big”.
Sarah Storey is an ambassador for Links of London who are the official jewellery designers for London 2012. The Team GB Band is available in Links of London stores and at www.linksoflondon.com
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