I’ve got 19 gold medals and I’m on Sports Personality of the Year shortlist – but lots of people don’t know who I am

DAME SARAH STOREY is in the running for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award – but she admits people still ask “Who is she?”.

The Paralympic Games star has enjoyed a medal-laden career with 19 gold medals.

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PA

PA

Luke Littler is one of the favourites for the award[/caption]

AP

Jude Bellingham is also in the running[/caption]

Storey, 47, is up against popular stars including Luke Littler and Jude Bellingham in the race for SPOTY.

Olympic 800m champ Keely Hodgkinson and triathlon king Alex Yee as well as record-breaking cricketer Joe Root are also in the running.

The cyclist and swimmer has insisted that para-sports is not covered enough between Paralympic games.

Storey has claimed that, as a result, it makes sports more challenging and affects people’s ability to recognise her compared to her counterparts.

She said: “It’s really, really challenging.

“You only have to look at comments when I was out of Dancing on Ice, people were like, ‘Well, who is she?’

“People don’t see para-sport on TV enough to know who their most successful athlete is.”

She won two more gold medals in the C4-C5 road race and the C5 time trials in the Paris Olympics earlier this year.

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She was expected to appear on Dancing on Ice but was forced to withdraw due to a fractured ankle, which occurred during practice.

If Storey succeeds at SPOTY, she will have made history as the oldest winner of the award ever.

Sunday Times

Keely Hodgkinson has also been nominated for the award[/caption]

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Alex Yee is also in with a chance after his Olympic heroics[/caption]

She had already picked up her fifth gold medal in swimming before four of her rivals were born.

She first competed in the Games back in 1992 when she was just 14 years old.

The mum of two added: “I’m quite happy at being the oldest.

“The only person [on the SPOTY shortlist] who was born when I went to my first Games was Joe Root and the other four weren’t born until after I’d won my fifth gold in swimming.

“There’s lots of talk around older athletes, especially older female athletes, and I’m involved in research into enabling more female athletes to continue into their late thirties, early forties and in my case late forties.

“The example I’m hopefully leading is that you can come back after having children, if you’ve got the right support, if you know your body, and you can continue to enjoy competitive sports at any level.”

Storey is aiming to make it ten appearances at the Paralympics in Los Angeles in 2028.

However, she is aware of the competition from younger athletes such as France star Heïdi Gaugain.

Storey had the edge over Gaugain in Paris as she beat her in the road race after a thrilling sprint finish.

She said: “It’s taking it one year at a time and hopefully come March or April, when I’m fully recovered [from her ankle injury], I’ll have got a plan together.

“You’ve got to be strategic and if you’re not, you don’t know where you’re going to find those gains.

“They’re marginal and they get even more marginal as you get older.

“Heidi is getting older and stronger, and that’s exciting.

“But I have to make sure I’ve got a plan to counteract her youthfulness.”

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Joe Root is the final nominee for the SPOTY[/caption]