World Tae Kwon Do Champion

Tae kwon do champion Sarah Stevenson has been named as the fourth most inspirational woman in sport.

Zest magazine has named the Doncaster based world beater in the 2012 poll for battling her way to her third world title, while simultaneously nursing both her parents through terminal cancer.

Sarah, 28, from Bentley, who is under a gruelling Olympic training session, managed to win the world title last year, even though her father Roy died from a brain tumour in July and her mother Diane lost her battle with cancer three months later.

Earlier this year, the medal hopeful was awarded an MBE by the Queen for her services to martial arts.

After winning Britain’s first ever tae kwon do Olympic medal by claiming bronze in Beijing in 2008, Sarah agonised about competing in the World Championships after taking time out to care for her parents but went on to win in the 67kg category in South Korea and dedicated her success to her family.

Team GM sitting volleyball player Martine Wright, was named the most inspirational woman in sport.

Mandie Gower, editor of Zest, said: “As London 2012 approaches, the buzz around our female sports stars has reached fever pitch.

“However, the truly inspirational women in sport aren’t all potential medal winners.

“We therefore wanted to highlight and honour those women, from trail-blazing coaches to presenters and MPs as well as our sports stars, who have contributed to making this year the biggest and most successful British sport has ever seen.”

The ‘Inspirational women in sport’ in 2012 list appears in the June issue of Zest, out now. The full 2012 list is:

1. Martine Wright, sitting volleyball player

2. Helen Skelton, TV presenter

3. Jessica Ennis, heptathlete

4. Sarah Stevenson, world tae kwon do champion

5. Gabby Logan, sports broadcaster

6. Anne Dunham, dressage rider

7. Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, campaigner

8. Paula Radcliffe, marathon runner

9. Tessa Jowell, MP

10. Rebecca Romero, athlete

11. Charlotte Edwards, England cricket captain

12. Julia Immonen, charity rower and record breaker

13. Clare Balding, BBC sports presenter

14. Hope Powell, GB football coach

15. Shelley Rudman, skeleton bobsleigh rider

16. Sue Tibballs, chief executive, Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation

17. Dame Kelly Holmes, Olympic champion

18. Barbara Slater, BBC director of sport

19. Ellen White, footballer

20. Chemmy Alcott, alpine skier

In a fantastic double, Sarah was named Doncaster’s Sports Personality of the Year – see back page.

Sarah has been named Doncaster’s Sports Personality of the Year for 2012, an award which is described as:

‘This award is to recognise an outstanding individual who has achieved, through sport, excellence and has represented their town, county or country in a way in which Doncaster can be proud. The Sports Personality will also be a strong role model for younger athletes to aspire to.’

Sarah’s latest blog for the Guardian

This weekend I had a visit from the mother-in-law, which I hasten to add was a pleasure, so we were keeping her entertained. Friday night was Treat Night, so it was a Chinese, lots of sweets and a DVD. It may not sound like the most hedonistic night of all time, but unfortunately when you’re a professional athlete in training for the Olympics, that’s about as crazy as it gets. It’s just a matter of getting used to the rigid discipline.

Of course, as you get a bit older you start pining for a more normal life where you can go out in the middle of the week, eat what you like and have a couple of glasses of wine, but you just can’t do it. If I stuff my face with booze or burgers, then I’m not going to be the best athlete I can be, so I have to treat my body like an engine and make sure it gets the right fuel. After the Olympics I’ll get to take some time off and do things like that, so I’ve just got to hold out for a few more months. But it is nice to treat yourself now and then so you have something to look forward to.

It’s a busy time for Manchester, where I’m based. The marathon was on Sunday, so I went down to support my friend, Sarah Broadhead, who ran it to raise funds for an amazing facility in which my beautiful mum spent her final days before she passed away last year. I’m really proud of Sarah, so if any Guardian readers could make a donation, however small, we’d be really grateful.

Elsewhere in Manchester we had the big football derby, which served as a low-key curtain-raiser for the main order of sporting business that’s taking place this weekend: the European Taekwondo Championships. Unfortunately, because of The Knee (of which more anon), I won’t be defending my title. To be honest, I’m not so bothered about that, but I am a bit gutted that I can’t compete because it would have been good preparation for the Olympics. From that perspective, it would have been nice to get some hard, competitive fighting under my belt.

It would be good to be fighting and there for the rest of the team, but I’m probably not going to attend because, for me, spending time with friends and family is more important after everything I’ve gone through. If I’m not fighting and competing, going home to Doncaster to spend time with my nearest and dearest who I haven’t seen for a while will help take my mind off it. My husband will be in attendance, however, because he trains other athletes as well as me. Hopefully he can help them win some medals, but it means I won’t see him for a while.

Anyway, time for an update on The Knee. It’s doing really well and I’m getting a lot more kicking sessions in now. Once the rest of the guys have finished competing at the Europeans, my aim is to be back with them in a couple of weeks’ time, hopefully cooking with gas at 100%. That’s the target, but even if I’m at 90% for a while and capable of doing most of the sessions with them, then I’ll be happy with that. I hope they missed me while I was lording it up in rehab with the medical staff, but there’s a very good chance they didn’t even notice I was gone.

Taekwondo world champion Sarah Stevenson says losing her father to a brain tumour and her mother to cancer last year has given her a “go for it” attitude for London 2012.

Stevenson adds that winning gold in the 67kg category at the 2011 World Championships has slightly taken the pressure off her for the Games, but she still wants Olympic gold to complete her collection of medals.

The 2008 Olympic bronze medallist had cruciate ligament surgery in February after she was injured during a training camp in Mexico, but insists her rehabilitation period is nearly over.

See the full story and video interview here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/taekwondo/17739157

Article by the Financial Times 14 April 2012:

Taekwondo – it’s quite simple to understand. Everything you need to know about the Korean martial art is there in the name: tae means to break with the foot; kwon means to break with the fist; and do is the method in which you do it. There: simple. They don’t mess around in this sport.
I’ve come to Sportcity, the Manchester home of the British taekwondo squad, to meet a woman who is, without doubt, the sport’s best in the world. Sarah Stevenson, 29, is the world champion and a veteran of three Olympic Games. She won bronze in 2008, becoming the first Briton to win a medal in the martial art, and is favourite to take gold in London this year. She’s so far ahead of the field that as long as she’s fit in May, she’ll be chosen to represent Britain in the Olympics – not for her the pressures and vagaries of a complicated qualification system.

But, given the physical nature of the sport, being injury-free at the right time isn’t a given for any of the competitors and, on this bright April morning, she walks into the coffee bar with a discernible hobble – the result of having injured her cruciate ligament at a training camp in Mexico in February and having surgery on it eight weeks ago. She now faces the battle of her career to get herself fully fit and fighting again by May.
“I’ll do it,” she says with confidence, easing her foot, complete with a tattoo of the five Olympic rings, on to a stool and sitting back in her chair. “My life is on hold at the moment. Everything I do is to get myself ready for the Olympics. It sounds daft, but I have no life; nothing in 2012 matters except the games.”
It’s not hard to see why this engaging woman has risen to the top of this tough sport. The fight and commitment bursts out of her as she explains that she has daily sessions with a sports psychologist as well as resting, exercising, icing and having endless physio sessions on her injured knee. “The training I’m doing to come back from injury is tougher than my normal training,” she says. “And that’s saying something.” It is. I’ve watched Stevenson and her squad members train before, and it’s not for the faint-hearted. The thing you notice first of all is how incredibly loud the training is. Every fighter has his or her own “shout”, a guttural cry that they emit as they hit or kick. In a room of 20 of the country’s best fighters, the noise is quite overwhelming.
“The shout is an important part of taekwondo, to fight without the shout is like playing football without a ball. At your first lesson you learn the shout and find your own noise. It helps you to be aggressive and gets you noticed; oppositions fear you, you feel stronger. It’s aggressive and assertive and part of what the sport is.” The aggression, for Stevenson, is all part of why she loves taekwondo. Indeed, she says that one of the keys to her success has been her aggression and the fact that she battles to control all her fights. “I put pressure on my opponents. I like to be in control. The aggressive side of the sport has never bothered me at all, I’ve always been feisty. I’m a bit of an animal to be honest.”

Despite her strength and determination, Stevenson does not cut an aggressive-looking figure. She’s tall and slim with toned limbs and she is attractive. If you saw her in the street, you’d never suspect that she kicks and hits people full time. “I don’t see that there’s anything wrong with looking good and fighting hard,” she says.
Stevenson began taekwondo when she was just seven, at her local club in Doncaster. “I was shy and quiet at the time and found it hard, but the sport gave me tons of confidence and built me up. By the time I was in my mid-teens, I absolutely loved it. I wouldn’t be half the person I am if I hadn’t done the sport. It’s made me strong.” There’s no question that she needed every last drop of that strength last year when she lost her mother and father in quick succession, after short illnesses. She says her parents were her heroes and her inspiration. Her mum, Diana, was diagnosed with cancer and, while she was having chemotherapy, Sarah’s father, Roy, was diagnosed with a cyst on his brain. Her dad died in July last year, just two-and-a-half months after he was diagnosed, and Diana died in November.
It’s more than any 28-year-old should have to bear, and Stevenson says that all her achievements now are devoted to them, and in their memory. On her wrist she has a tattoo that says “because of you”, which she had done soon after their deaths. “Now I know how precious life is, and how quickly it goes. I know you have to seize these moments and make the most of them.”
Stevenson is coached by Steve Jennings, who holds the unlikely position of being both her coach and husband. It might be the stuff of most women’s nightmares – being told what to do all day by the same man you go home with at night, but Stevenson says it works brilliantly. “We never fight, we’re both 100 per cent committed and we make sure that taekwondo stays in the gym and isn’t taken home with us. When I fight, I fight for both of us. We’re a team.”
Is she ever scared before fighting? “I don’t have a physical fear of getting hurt so much as a fear of getting beaten. I think ‘what if I lose?’ not ‘what if I get hurt?’ But even thinking ‘what if I lose?’ is counter-productive, so I try to remove all those thoughts and concentrate on what I need to do to win.”
In a month’s time, Stevenson will know whether she has reached the fitness targets necessary for her to be selected to represent Britain in the games. She’s confident she can do it, and knows she will then face the most exciting tournament of her life. “The Olympics is crazy, it’s very difficult to explain the feelings you have at the games. There’s this mass of different people – different colours, sizes, shapes all thrown together. It’s crazy, it’s like a circus. You have to try and shut out as much of it as you can, and concentrate on yourself and your sport.”
Stevenson has had an incredible career, working and fighting hard, and making great friends along the way. She was even once sponsored by Jackie Chan when he saw her perform at one of his film premieres. But the best is surely yet to come. “I’m on Olympic countdown,” she says. “Nothing else matters now but getting fit and doing myself, Mum and Dad and Steve proud in the games. I know I can do it if I work hard.”

It was my birthday last Friday and I trained all day, but managed to fit in a little celebratory lunch and some cake before heading off to Doncaster for a little get-together with my family; it was just what I needed. I hadn’t had a drink in 2012 and because of The Knee, I hadn’t really been focusing on anything else, but as it was my birthday and all is going well, I decided to let my hair down, go crazy and have … a couple of glasses of wine. I think I’d earned the right to let go a bit, although I had to be careful because the last thing I want to do at this stage is get drunk, fall over and injure something else.

Things really have been going well, I’m pleased to report. I’ve been working hard in the gym and making lots of progress with my training, doing a few personal bests with my strength coach. After the injury setback, it’s good to to be hitting and exceeding the targets we set. I’ve started kicking again and running, which is obviously great. Thanks to the hard work of the medical team working on my knee, who I can’t thank enough, all the boring stuff is out of the way now, so it’s good to be back doing what I do best: kicking things.

The aim now is to get me back into full-on training and so far so good, it’s all going really well. I’m excited, happy and pleased to be getting on with it. Of course the progress I’ve made also means I’m back behind the wheel, so I’ve finally got to take my new car for a spin. I love that machine, although it’s so fast I’m still a little scared of it.

One distraction I’ve had, which is a welcome one, is my Inspire programme. KPMG help me fund it, so I owe them a debt of gratitude for that because it enables a lot of kids to apply for the chance to come and train with me for a day, several times a year. Obviously, we do a couple of taekwondo sessions and I also try to do some mentoring with them: nutrition, psychology sessions and assorted talks with guest speakers. I tell them how I got to where I am and offer them inspiration from me. I want to give back to my sport so I thought this would be a good way of doing that.

The kids who go on the programme have to be at a certain age group and level, and they can come along and hopefully learn from and be inspired by me. Not everybody is going to make it and represent their country, but I want to help kids who want to try.

I think they get a lot from it and I do too; last year, what with everything that was going on with both my parents, I was considering cancelling it, but when I actually turned up on the day and spent time with the kids, I was so glad I did it. They’re amazing and the fact that they just wanted to be there so much was inspiring for me. Some of them are representing Great Britain at the World Junior Championships in Egypt this week and it’s been really nice to see the progression from how they were a year or two ago to what they’re doing now.

There’s so many of them now, winning loads of medals and a lot of them send me messages telling me how much they got from my sessions. It’s really nice to hear that I’ve been able to help them along in some small way as they go from strength to strength, so I’d like to wish them all the very best of luck in Sharm el-Sheikh.

Somebody mentioned to me recently that their mum had been reading my Guardian diary and that, while she thought I seemed a very nice girl, she didn’t think taekwondo was a suitable sport for a lady. It’s funny, because I get that a lot from mums, especially older mums. My own mother was a bit like that – she didn’t think taekwondo was for girls and didn’t want me to fight when I first started but obviously that changed.

When I showed I was in it for the long haul and began to win things, her and my dad grew to love it and were possibly more into it than I was when I was younger. Eventually it got to the stage that, even if I’d wanted to quit, I wouldn’t have been allowed to.

Sarah’s latest blog for the Guardian newspaper:

I was proud to pick up an MBE at Buckingham Palace – and I’m delighted my knee is recovering ahead of schedule.

It was obviously a huge blow injuring my anterior cruciate ligament on our training camp in Mexico, but I’m really pleased with how my recovery is going. Everything is really well and we’re well ahead of schedule. I say “we”, because it’s been a group effort and I really want to thank all the people who’ve been helping me at the English Institute of Sport. They’ve been working so well with me, even if we’re all probably going to be sick of the sight of each other by the time they’re finished.

That said, I think I’m a good patient – I’m a very positive and happy person, so we try to have fun, keep things as lighthearted as possible and enjoy a bit of banter. For me now, getting through rehab and getting fit again is my training for the Olympics and I think I’ve surprised a lot of people with the progress I’ve made in my recovery since having surgery on my knee after Mexico. I’ve got targets now, I’m challenging myself every day and I’m quite enjoying it – it’s very exciting.

Moving on from The Knee, I was lucky enough to go to Buckingham Palace to collect the MBE I was awarded in the New Year honours list. It was two weeks after my operation, so I was off my crutches and happy to be able to collect it standing on my own two feet. It was an amazing, proud day for me and my family.

Despite suffering the injury, having my operation and being in rehab, it’s been an amazing few weeks for me. I’ve been given a lovely new car by Alfa Romeo, which I can’t drive yet because of the injury but have fallen completely in love with. I’m also sponsored by Foor Goodness Shakes, and I have to admit I get a kick out of seeing myself on the bottles in the supermarket. So, to get down to London to collect the MBE was just the icing on the cake, really. There’s a lot going on at the moment, even though I’m not actually doing taekwondo.

Obviously, because I’m from Doncaster and we’re all very classy up here, I wore a very chic number to Buckingham Palace. People I know kept looking at me saying “You look very posh, Sarah!”, sounding really surprised … to which the only obvious response I could muster was a very indignant and wounded: “But I am posh!”

Those of us getting honoured were allowed to bring three guests each with us, so I took my husband, Steve … obviously. I also invited Gary Sykes, the coach who I started doing taekwondo with, because if I hadn’t walked into his school when I was seven years old I wouldn’t have been in the Palace picking up an MBE. My third guest was my auntie, Angela Peart. She was really close to my mum and it was nice to be able to have somebody like that there to kind of represent my parents.

When my surname was read out, I approached the Queen, gave a bit of a curtsey and then we had a short conversation. She asked me how long I’d done taekwondo for and I told her I’ve done it for 22 years and counting. She seemed surprised that I’d been at it from such a young age, told me it’s great I’m in training for the Olympics and that was it – she offered me her hand, which we’d been told beforehand means: “Get off! Next!” – she had a lot of people to get through. She was really nice and friendly, though … and really cute because she’s so little. It really was a wonderful day for me, because I was so excited, happy and proud. Unfortunately, though, we couldn’t make a day of it in London, because I had to get back up north to put an ice-pack on my knee.

Forgoodness Shakes, one of Sarah’s key sponsors have now launched their Train with the Champions competition.  Look out for the exclusive promotional bottles in leading stores today to win a training session with Sarah!

SARAH STEVENSON – TAEKWONDO

“Taekwondo is very physically demanding. During International tournaments, I will fight up to 5 times over 2 days so preparation and fast recovery between bouts is crucial. For Goodness Shakes was fundamental to me becoming World Champion, refuelling, re-hydrating and re-building my muscles fast, ensuring I was fighting fit.”

What can you expect from a training day with Sarah?

“You will have lots of enjoyment from the day and hopefully learn a lot to take back to your own gym. You will get to know me and my training regime, I’ll try not to cause any bruises though, promise!”

Visit www.trainwiththechampions.com now!

from BBC Sport on 9 February 2012:

Injured world champion Sarah Stevenson insists she will be fit to fight for Olympic gold at London 2012.
Stevenson had cruciate ligament surgery this week after she was injured during a recent training camp in Mexico.
She has spoken of her desire to win Olympic gold as a fitting tribute to her parents who both died last year.
“I’ll be at London 2012. I’m not worried, I’m more determined. I’ve been through too much to let a knee injury get me down,” the 28-year-old tweeted.
Stevenson’s mother, Diana, was diagnosed with cancer in January and passed away in October, just three months after her father, Roy, died following a brain tumour.
She has been ruled out of the upcoming Dutch and German Opens and is likely to miss the European Championships in Manchester which start on 3 May.
But she remains optimistic of competing in London 2012 and attempting to improve on the bronze medal she won at Beijing 2008.
Great Britain performance director Gary Hall added: “If anyone can return from this then Sarah can.
“She is a consummate professional and will be doing everything in her power to show the selectors she is the girl for the job.”
Stevenson won her third Taekwondo World Championships title by beating China’s Guo Yunfei in the -67kg category in Gyeongju, South Korea, last year.

LATEST GUARDIAN BLOG FROM SARAH:

After Christmas, my husband and trainer Steve and I went to Lanzarote with some family and friends for a holiday, which was very relaxing. Because the rest of Team GB was training at home, I had to do some work too, so I ran on the beach, did circuits and played tennis, to keep fit. It was nice to do all that in the sun, rather than in the rain and cold at home like everyone else.

It was really, really wet and windy, bordering on apocalyptic, when we got off the plane at home, which was quite a shock to the system. Luckily, we’ve got a training camp in Mexico, where we go in two weeks, for a fortnight. We’ll be training with the Mexico national team, which will be really good. Obviously the weather there will be nicer, which is something to look forward to. It’s good to have a bit of warm weather training with good quality partners. I’m really looking forward to that because it will feel like I’m really getting stuck in to my preparations.

People often ask how I got into taekwondo, but it’s always been in my family. My brother did it when he was young, so I just joined in when I was old enough. It wasn’t like I was raised on a diet of Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee movies and influenced to emulate them, nor was it a case that, like the Karate Kid, I was getting bullied so I started doing taekwondo to protect myself. I never really did anything else and never looked back. It’s just something that’s always been there, so it was natural for me to take it up.

I wouldn’t say I particularly enjoyed it when I was younger; I just did it and had a talent. Not a talent for taekwondo, specifically, but for getting stuck in and not being scared. I don’t think I actually fell in love with the sport until I was into my teenage years, but it did take a while. I was a bit shy and timid at first and was intimidated by everyone at the club. But my attitude was always really good. I did what I was told, just got in the ring with whoever and was probably a really good student to have at the club.

I won a lot when I was younger and hardly ever lost. I wouldn’t say that gave me confidence, because I was always very shy. I won the junior world championships when I was 15 and I think that was the stepping stone that gave me a bit more of a confidence boost. Straight after that I went to the Olympics at Sydney and then I won the senior world championships, which gave me more confidence.

While I never want to say never, there’s a good chance this Olympics in London could be my last. Taekwondo is not a sport for old people, because while you need to be agile and very flexible, you also need to be able to cope with the enormous physical demands, so once you get into your 30s you’re going to be at an obvious disadvantage. I’m 28 now, so I am starting to get on a bit in terms of taekwondo, even though I don’t actually feel it.

The palaver over the tickets during the last week [Locog had to suspend the resale of tickets for London 2012 after problems with the official website] reminded me that taekwondo is always scheduled for the end of the Olympics, just a day or two before the closing ceremony. It’s a real shame, because it means I don’t get to go and watch any other events. I’ve been to three Olympics in my career and I’ve seen nothing apart from my own sport, because we’re always on at the end. As a taekwondo athlete, you don’t actually get to enjoy the Games because you’ve got to keep your focus on your discipline.

After the Olympics, I am thinking of trying to get some tickets for the Paralympics, because I really enjoy them. I think my favourite sport of the Olympics and Paralympics would probably be wheelchair basketball, because it’s such a great sport to watch.