Growing up in Desert Hot Springs, California, Robles competed in throwing events at San Jacinto High School in San Jacinto, CA. She became a top-ranked shot putter, earning scholarships to the University of Alabama and Arizona State University. As part of her shot put training at a local Arizona gym under coach Joe Micela, she began doing Olympic-style lifts in 2008. That same year, after only three months of weightlifting, Robles qualified for nationals and stopped competing in shot put, losing her scholarship in the process. She won the silver medal at a 2010 Pan American competition and is a three time national champion. At the 2011 World Championships, she finished in eleventh place in her weight class but first place among American women weightlifters. Robles qualified as one of two American women to compete in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Despite being the highest-ranked weightlifter in the United States, Robles lived on less than $400 a month leading up to the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Commentators have suggested that this was the result both of the lack of popular attention to the sport of weightlifting, as well as Robles and other women in the sport having larger body types than those of women athletes traditionally portrayed in mass media. Robles has been quoted as saying that, "You can get that sponsorship if you're a super-built guy or a girl who looks good in a bikini. But not if you're a girl who's built like a guy." As of July 16, 2012, a company called Solve Media was sponsoring her. Robles has a deformity in her arm known as Madelung's deformity, which results in a radius that is shorter than normal and bowed. The deformity leads to significant pain during lifts, and Robles treats the pain with wrist wraps and warming creams. After Robles failed her drug test on June 29, 2013 and then was suspended on August 8, 2013, she was then sanctioned by the International Weightlifting Federation for two years, that is, until August 8, 2015. On her blog, she claims that: "many have mistakenly said Robles also tested positive for testosterone and pregnanediol when she did not—testosterone and pregnanediol are both metabolites of DHEA," a claim which is supported by the contemporary news reports: Robles failed her drug test on June 29, at the end of the 2013 Pan American Championships, for testing positive for Dehydroepiandrosterone, or DHEA. In response to questions about her positive drug test result, Sarah's official website cites medical reasons for her need to take DHEA. She says, "My doctor and I worked together to try different treatment options for my PCOS, as a preventative measure. Because my progesterone and DHEA levels are naturally quite low because of PCOS, my doctor felt that supplementing with DHEA would help balance things out in my system. We did not feel that bringing my DHEA to a normal level would be contradictory to my stance as a clean athlete." Robles's official web site does not mention any application for a therapeutic use exemption prior to the positive tests, and although she states that she acted on the advice of her doctor when taking this medication to treat poly-cystic ovary syndrome, her appeal of the suspension for medical reasons was denied.
