Dame Sarah Storey

ParalympicsGB's most successful Paralympian, Dame Sarah Storey, was born without a functioning left hand but as a sporty child always found ways to compete against and beat her peers in a range of sports. After becoming the fastest swimmer at her primary school age 9, Sarah then discovered the Paralympics and went on to make her Paralympic debut age 14, winning two gold medals and a bronze at the 1992 Games.

Her return from these Games wasn’t the easiest of experiences with Sarah suffering at the hands of bullies and developing an eating disorder as a result. Despite the fact her sporting career was attracting bullying behaviour she wasn’t deterred in any way. Sarah continued to excel in swimming, attending a further three Paralympics, before making a transition to cycling in 2005.

Before turning 19, Sarah had already achieved the incredible feat of winning five gold medals. Her love of sport and unfazed approach to new challenges led to her switching sports in 2005 and taking on the world of cycling. During the past 20 years Sarah has competed and won races in able-bodied cycling events, competing in the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games on the track and as part of the Great Britain Team Pursuit squad ahead of the London 2012 Games.

Her success in cycling further solidified her place in Paralympic history, with a total of 30 Paralympic medals, including 19 golds, making her the most successful ParalympicsGB Paralympian in terms of gold medals and one of the most decorated Paralympic athletes overall.

Sarah said: “The launch of The National Lottery in 1994 was a watershed moment for athletes. It was around the same time that British sport started to reorganise the way the disability portion of sport was done, giving it more structure, and it was really exciting to see this kind of organisational change. Everything was channelled towards what the country would do when we eventually got an Olympic and Paralympic games at home, and to many it felt like that goal was achieved over night, but it was actually decades in the making."

“Being part of The National Lottery funded World Class Programme since it began in 1997 has enabled me to be an athlete first and get me where I am today. One of the things The National Lottery has really spearheaded is that sport in this country now feels like it’s a great big team, and in lots of ways, this extends to the people who play The National Lottery. They may not realise the impact they have but the part they play, not just in sport but in other good causes, is incredible.”