Dame Sarah Storey: BBC Sports Personality 2016 contender

We are showcasing each of the 16 contenders in the run-up to the Sports Personality of the Year award on 18 December. Today - Dame Sarah Storey and Jamie Vardy.

Dame Sarah Storey - Age: 39 Sport: Cycling

Year in a nutshell

Britain's most decorated female Paralympian after three golds in Rio took her tally to 14 titles in all from swimming and cycling.

She completed a cycling hat-trick at the 2016 Games in the women's C4-5 road race, after winning both the individual pursuit and time trial.

The Cheshire cyclist, who returned to elite sport after becoming a mother three years ago, also won a gold and two silvers at the Para-cycling Track World Championships.

How she got here

Born without a functioning left hand, Storey still embraced a range of sports at primary school.

She did gymnastics, cricket and table tennis, and took part in a swimming club run by parents on Saturdays.

Storey went on to captain the county netball team but made her name in the pool aged 14 with a pair of gold medals at the 1992 Barcelona Paralympics.

More success followed over the next three Games and by the time a chronic ear infection halted her swimming career, she had a total of 16 Paralympic medals, including five golds

She switched to cycling in 2005, triumphing twice at the Beijing Games and four times in London.

The first of her three Rio golds saw her pass the Great Britain's women's record of 11 Paralympic titles she had shared with former wheelchair racer Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson.

What she said: "It's amazing and I don't think it will sink for a very long time."

What you say

Richard Cumiskey: "Sarah Storey has to win #SPOTY. What she achieved in the Paralympics was incredible, and a true inspiration to disabled people out there."

Jack Grummitt-Carel: "For 14 Paralympic golds, 27-times world champ & broken 72 world records over two sports, Sarah Storey has my vote."

Tim Barnes: ‏"Has been dominant in more than one sport for almost 20 years - plus my daughter won't forgive me if we don't vote for her."

Sports Personality record: 12th, 2012. The last woman to win the award was Zara Phillips in 2006, after her triumph at the World Equestrian Games.

Get Inspired

Cycling is booming - many people are getting on a bike for the first time, and those who already cycle are cycling more and more. It's a revolution.

Visit the Get Inspired website to find out more on how to get into cycling.