Sarah Stevenson

Progress towards 2012 This month's world championships went really well, considering everything that's going on here at home. With my parents both being unwell it has been tough but they were the ones who told me I had to go. Family's more important than anything. But when your mum and dad are saying to you 'we want you to go,' they kind of force you into it. You've got to do what your mum and dad tell you, don't you? I wound up taking gold, so there's no reason to believe I can't do the same at London 2012. To be honest, even when I was at the worlds I didn't think I would be capable of doing what I did. I just knew that if I wanted to go to the Olympics I needed to go there. Now, having won it, I know that even if I don't get the best preparation, as long as I'm mentally right then I'm going to be fine. Taking gold in the worlds right before Great Britain were about to name the weight categories they would take for 2012 also put me in a really good position. It's hard to plan at the moment with things as they are at home, but I do think I will be there and going for it in 2012. If I was able to do the things I did it at the worlds, I don't see how I wouldn't be able to do the same in 2012. Biography Born 30 March 1983, Doncaster Educated Don Valley High School, Doncaster Hobbies I love playing badminton, though I'm not very good at it If I wasn't an athlete ... I think I'd be doing something to help other people. When I was younger I wanted to be a vet, or a child psychologist Favourite musician Adele – she's great Favourite book Erm, OK! magazine? I don't know! Favourite film I'm not sure it's my favourite ever, but I did really like The King's Speech Training Normally I'd be in Manchester Monday to Saturday but with things as they are at home I try to split my time. My cardio I can do in Doncaster while I'm looking after my mum and dad. It's easier to get injured as you get older, so for me it works to do more cardio and less taekwondo than the younger ones, because tactically I already know what I want to do Key statistics 2001 & 2011 World championships winner 2005 & 2006 European championships winner 2008 Beijing Olympics bronze medal 2006 Commonwealth championships winner World rankings (-67kg) 1) K Hwang (Chn) 2) S Stevenson (GB) 3) Yun Fei Guo (Chn) 4) H Fromm (Ger) 5) M Pagnotta (Can) Countdown to 2012 1-2 October 2011 British Open, Manchester, United Kingdom 29 October 2011 Provisional fight night date. Details to be confirmed 3-4 December 2011 Olympic test event, venue to be confirmed 27-29 January 2012 European championships, Kazan, Russia February 2012 US Open, Austin, Texas, USA Venue The taekwondo at London 2012 will be held in the ExCeL Arena at Royal Victoria Dock, Londo March 2012 Dutch Open, Eindhoven, Netherlands