Dame Sarah Storey, the most decorated British athlete in history with 74 world and Paralympic medals, has announced her retirement from elite competition at age 48. In a quiet corner of a Macclesfield café, she reflected on a career spanning nine Paralympic Games - starting as a 14-year-old swimmer in Barcelona 1992 and ending with a blistering sprint victory over a teenager half her age in Paris. “I’ve always shied away from the word ‘retirement,’” she said, “because it certainly isn’t sitting with your feet up.”

Storey’s athletic versatility is matched only by her off-bike résumé: travel commissioner of Manchester, chair of Lancashire Cricket, TV pundit, and the loudest voice in British Paralympic sport. She nearly made the Olympic team pursuit squad in 2012 alongside Laura Kenny. When asked about her ideal post-competition job, she smiled: “Sometimes I’d like to be chef de mission, sometimes performance director, sometimes the TV anchor. Pinning me down is a lost cause.”

Her journey wasn’t all gold medals and world records. In the 1990s, an elite swimming club in Leeds turned her away because of her disability - her left hand didn’t fully develop after being entangled in the umbilical cord. That rejection led her to overtrain, develop chronic fatigue syndrome, and endure “four years of hell.” But it gave her empathy for other athletes and, eventually, a pivot to cycling in 2005 after a persistent ear infection forced her out of the pool. Two decades later, she had 19 Paralympic golds on two wheels.

Still, Storey laments that Paralympic sport remains on the margins. “Lots of people are surprised when I’m selected again because they assumed I wasn’t racing,” she said. “One in four people have a disability. It makes absolute sense to invest more.” She advocates for combined national championships and better broadcast coverage between Games.

Her medals? Most hang in the conservatory, but all 30 Paralympic medals are stored in socks - her mother made pouches for the golds, but the silvers and bronzes are still in their original socks. “I can’t bear to deal with holey socks,” Storey laughed.

She nearly went for a tenth Paralympics in Los Angeles at age 51, but saddle surgery gave her time to reflect. “Being able to leave the sport unbeaten is something not everyone gets to do,” she said. “I want to put my energy into something new.” That includes her children’s cricket and ballet, plus continuing her work with Andy Burnham on Manchester travel and county cricket administration. “Whatever you do, it’s always about leaving something better than you found it,” she said, finishing her coffee before racing off to her next task.