Sarah Wells

Biography

Sarah Wells made her Olympic debut at London 2012 where she advanced to the semifinals of the 400m hurdles. She had remarkably qualified for the Games after being sidelined for nine months in 2011 when she was diagnosed with a stress fracture in her left femur. She went on to compete at the 2013 Summer Universiade where she won silver with the 4x400m relay and just missed the podium with her fourth place finish in the 400m hurdles. Wells was then out for another six months with a reoccurrence of the stress fracture in her femur. She came back to capture her fourth Canadian title in 2015, following her 400m hurdles victories in 2012, 2010, and 2008. Wells also won a pair of medals at the Pan Am Games in Toronto, taking silver in the 400m hurdles and bronze with the 4x400m relay. She’ll have to beat the odds one more time to compete at Rio 2016, after suffering a third stress fracture, but prides herself on being able to work through those injuries time after time when many people would have walked away after being mentally defeated repeatedly.

Getting to know…

Family: Parents Stephen and Angie Wells… Older sisters Athena and Stephanie… Younger brother Andrew… Getting into the Sport: Tried numerous sports as a child before discovering her talent for track and field in high school… At age 15, teacher Dave Hunt, who was also a national track coach, recommended she start training for the hurdles and invited her to train with the University of Toronto Junior Development program… They worked together for eight years, which included qualifying for London 2012… Outside Interests: Graduated with degree in Physical Education and Health from the University of Toronto… Co-founded the Fearless Action Challenge to help young girls learn to stand up to peer pressure and become leaders, using physical activity as a vehicle… Enjoys doing motivational speaking… RBC Olympian… Odds and Ends: Tries to make a wish at 11:11 as often as possible… Always eats a peanut butter and banana sandwich before competing… Favourite motto: Believe…