Dame Sarah Storey is one of many famous faces taking to the ice next year for Dancing on Ice 2025.
Known as the most successful Paralympian of all time, Sarah is a British cyclist and swimmer whose career spans more than two decades.
But who is her famous husband? Why did she think her career was over after having kids? And how many gold medals has she won? Keep on reading to find out…
What Dancing on Ice star Sarah Storey is famous for
Sarah shot to fame thanks to her success as a Paralympian. Having appeared at every Paralympics since 1992, she has won 18 gold medals, including two at the 2024 Paris Games.
Sarah Storey’s original career
Sarah started her Paralympic career in the pool, achieving early success as a swimmer between 1992 and 2004.
At the Barcelona 1992 Paralympics, a 14 year old Sarah ended up winning five medals including two golds. However, following continued ear problems, Sarah was forced to say goodbye to swimming.
But this was the start of a new chapter for Sarah, who then became a cyclist in 2005. As a cyclist, Sarah has won 38 world titles.
How old Sarah Storey is and where she was born
Sarah is currently 46 years old. Her birthday is October 26 1977.
As for where she was born, Sarah grew up in Eccles, Salford, Manchester. It’s been reported that Sarah is related to Danny Brocklehurst.
Danny is a British screenwriter, best known for his shows like Brassic, Shameless and The Stranger. He also created the Netflix smash hit show, Fool Me Once, starring Michelle Keegan.
Dancing On Ice star Sarah Storey on her disability
Sarah was born without a functioning left hand. While in the womb, her left arm got entangled in the umbilical cord. This affected the arm’s function and development and left her with a left hand that was considered underdeveloped.
Over the years, Sarah has competed against both disabled and able-bodied athletes at sports championships. In 2010, she became the first disabled cyclist to compete against able-bodied cyclists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, in Delhi, India.
Sarah has been open over the years about how, despite her success, she was a victim of bullying at school. And things got so bad for Sarah that she unfortunately suffered with an eating disorder in her teenage years.
She told The Sun in 2012: “They’d call me weird, and accuse me of being big-headed when I couldn’t have kept a lower profile. They even hated me for coming to school with wet hair after training. It was horrible.”
Recalling her time at school, Sarah also told Judy Murray on Sky Sports’ Driving Force that she was a “walking conversation-stopper”. According to Sarah, her peers would talk about her behind her back. She said: “One of the instigators was someone who had been quite close to me.
“I knew her really well, but she didn’t like where my career was going. It wasn’t where her career was going and maybe that was the jealousy side,” she added.
Sarah’s eating disorder
Sarah unfortunately battled with an eating disorder due to her bullying ordeal. The Olympian told Cyclist magazine in 2017 that she had “an eating disorder as a 15 year old”.
According to Sarah, people only noticed her weight loss during competitions at the National Junior Swimming Championships. She also recalled a parent asking her dad if she had been ill over Christmas.
“I was painfully thin, and it wasn’t a great situation because I didn’t really want to eat during the day at school,” she told Driving Force.
“It was probably the only thing I could control during the day was the food intake; I couldn’t control the behaviour of the other kids.”
Sarah then said her mother took her to a GP. She was warned about the impact her eating habits could have on her sporting career.
Sarah Storey and husband Barney
Dame Sarah Storey is married to Barney Storey. He is also an athlete and cyclist and was a sighted pilot for blind cyclists competing in the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Paralympics.
Barney and Sarah met through cycling in 2004 and married three years later in 2007.
Talking about their “special” wedding day, Sarah told Great British Life in 2020: “Barney and I went for a lovely walk outside as the light was fading and we could look back into the hotel bar and see all our guests having a great time. It was a special day.”
Together Sarah and Barney have two children, Louisa born in 2013 and Charlie, born in 2017.
Sarah on fearing her career was over after kids
In 2021, Sarah opened up about being a mum, admitting she feared her career would come to an end after becoming a mum.
“Being able to come back after two pregnancies – that’s got to be my biggest achievement,” she told Sky Sports News.
Sarah added: “I never expected to come back [from having children], and it was certainly not a pressure that I had to come back. I’d achieved everything I could have wished for.
“I don’t think I could do what I do without having them alongside me. Being a mum is the most incredible job you can do – and only doing that for a certain time in the year because training was more important… I couldn’t live with that.”
Sarah Storey accident
In 2022, Sarah ended up getting into a serious accident that left her with broken ribs and a partially collapsed lung.
Posting on social media at the time, Sarah explained she had to pull out of the World Championships in Canada as a result of the accident. “Apologies for the radio silence since my crash last Sunday. I’ve been limiting screen time to manage the concussion symptoms I suffered and the strategy was working well.
“I had a plan to rest and recuperate, follow head injury protocol with regards to building up my riding time, and hopefully enable myself to start the Road Time Trial this morning. Unfortunately it wasn’t just the concussion that needed attention. And, whilst initial rib pain was manageable with paracetamol, that changed late on Wednesday night when suddenly I couldn’t breathe properly.
“A chest X-ray at the local Emergency Room confirmed at least two broken ribs. But then a subsequent ultrasound to check for punctured lung was inconclusive. Yesterday a CT scan showed the fracture sites were very inflamed and irritated but thankfully showed my left lung intact. I wasn’t entirely in the clear though as, due to the fracture pain and inability to breathe deeply, I have a partially collapsed lung.
“I’m devastated I won’t be on the start line this morning. It’s always an honour to try and defend a title. But sadly that can’t happen given my injuries.”
Almost hospitalised
Speaking ahead of the Paralympics, Sarah added: “I had a nasty crash in the summer of 2022, concussion, broken ribs and a partially collapsed lung. I didn’t recover from that until early 2023.”
“Coming back from that crash, I picked up Covid, tonsillitis and the worst chest infection that I’ve ever had, which very nearly hospitalised me,” she added to ITV in 2024.
She went on to share how she had to learn to adjust to getting older. Sarah said: “I had to be aware that I was getting a little older and work out how do I adjust things?”
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