in-a-lifetime opportunity so, you know, you soon get round it and soon find that you give yourself a good talking to and get on with the job." She continues: "I think we’re in a very
unique position and are very fortunate that motivation is never a problem, really. Sometimes fatigue gets to you, when you’re so tired, you wonder how you could possibly get through the next training session without killing yourself. But fatigue and motivation are two completely different things, and struggling through training because you’re tired isn’t the same as being demotivated." While talking with Sarah, it has become
so obvious that her focus, her excellence at what she does and her motivation was exactly the same as anything experienced by able-bodied athletes. In fact, Sarah has twice won the British able-bodied national track championship. There is a growing recognition of the impressive nature of Paralympic athletes, and there is no doubt that the London Paralympics marked a new high in recognition for "disabled" people. Sarah is very clear about this, "I think the perception was always that the
Paralympics were something that was second to the Olympics. It came second, therefore it
wasn’t as important. But for us as athletes, the amount of competition, the intensity of it has always been very real. Now I think the general public have realised that themselves. That's thanks to great media coverage and more people and more tickets and bigger venues and all the different things that played a part in making it more public. Finally, people have come into our world, and are starting to understand what we mean when we say we’re not second-class citizens, we’re elite athletes as well. They’ve now seen it first-hand and understand that, and that’s the greatest thing is that the word ‘disability’ is almost redundant." This attitude is reflected in her answer
to what she would tell others who might believe themselves to be in some way "disadvantaged". "I think you, you have to look in the mirror
and make sure you’re doing everything you possibly can, and if you want to do something badly enough, it doesn’t matter about other people’s opinions of you or the situation. If it’s a dream of yours, then you find a way. There are lots of situations where athletes have coached themselves for a while or had to buy their own training time at a training centre, because they didn’t have anyone
showing any interest in them. So, whilst money makes a lot of the world go round, if you want to do something then, you know, money doesn’t come into it – you find a way of doing it anyway. I know athletes who’ve gone into incredible debt just to fulfil this dream of becoming Olympic or Paralympic champion, and when they do that, you know, the rest of it seems insignificant." b