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• On This Day in 2013: Sarah Stevenson ends taekwondo career

  Two-time taekwondo world champion Sarah Stevenson announced her retirement on this day in 2013.

  The announcement brought to an end a glittering career that also brought her four gold medals at the European Championships.

  She also claimed Britain’s first ever Olympic medal in taekwondo at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but was at the centre of controversy after appealing against a contentious ruling during her quarter-final loss to China’s Chen Zhong.

  The appeal was successful meaning Stevenson was awarded a spot in the semi-finals and she went on to take bronze.

  Stevenson’s first taekwondo world title came in 2001, and she earned her second a decade later in emotional circumstances as both her parents were critically ill.

  Her parents died later that year and her career could have been derailed after suffering a serious knee injury, but she recovered in time to compete in her fourth Olympics at London 2012.

  She failed to progress beyond the first round and, having not fought since then, reached the decision to retire and take up a role as a high-performance coach with GB Taekwondo.

  Stevenson, then aged 30, said: “It has been a hard decision and it has been a long process but I think in just stepping away from the sport and having a break, waiting to seeing if I’m going to miss it or not – I realised I didn’t miss it.

  “I didn’t feel in my heart that I wanted to compete again.

  “I don’t really do anything half-hearted and I think it would be a mistake for me to continue if my heart isn’t in it.

  “But I have no regrets and it feels good to say that. I am 100 per cent happy with my decision.”

• Jamaica set to host inaugural Commonwealth Sports GAPS Camp in the Americas to benefit Para-Athletes and coaches

  The Jamaica Paralympic Association (JPA) and the University of the West Indies, Faculty of Sport, in partnership with the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) on Thursday staged the launch of the inaugural GAPS (Gather, Adjust, Prepare, Sustain) Americas & Caribbean Programme to be held in Kingston, Jamaica from April 16 to 22, 2024. 

  This historic collaboration with the Jamaica Paralympic Association and the University of the West Indies has been realized, thanks to support from the President of the Jamaica Commonwealth Games Association and through the Memorandum of Understanding with the Jamaica Paralympic Association and the University of the West Indies, Faculty of Sport. During this inaugural year the programme will focus on the sport of Para-Athletics. 

  “This is a very special day for us because usually, multi-organization collaborations take a long time to come to fruition but every time we work with the Jamaica Paralympic Association, things happen very fast,” said Dean of the Faculty of Sport at UWI, Dr. Akshai Mansingh at Thursday’s launch at the University of the West Indies.

  “Para-Athletes are, in my view, some of the most talented athletes in the country,” he added.

  GAPS is a programme offered by the CGF which aims to advance inclusive sport pathways by offering athletes and coaches additional skills, knowledge and resources that help them to become a catalyst for positive social change and strengthens the Commonwealth Family bond.

  “I want to celebrate the fact that we now have the first ever GAPS camp in the Americas and the Caribbean,” remarked Commonwealth Games Federation President, Dr. Chris Jenkins, who was a virtual attendee on Thursday.

  This is a fantastic milestone. We’ve been working hard for a couple of years now and it’s finally happening. I’ve been to many GAPS camps and they’ve been truly inspirational,” he added.

  One of the main outcomes of the programme is to increase the number of countries participating at the Commonwealth Games.

  GAPS aims to address some of the unique challenges faced by para-sport athletes from the Americas & Caribbean region through a partnership programme that educates coaches, identifies talent, undertakes skill development camps, provides international internships and enables research opportunities.

  “I applaud the Commonwealth Games Federation and its President, Dr. Chris Jenkins, for their vision in enabling the able with a difference. I also salute the Faculty of Sport at the University of the West Indies for realizing this vision and affording our para-athletes an opportunity to self-actualize,” said Jamaica Paralympic Association President, Christopher Samuda.

  The GAPS Americas & Caribbean 2024 acknowledges the fundamental role the coaches play in the development of the athletes. Their development forms the foundational element of the programme. 

  The programme is designed to build a sustainable pathway for para sport development across the Commonwealth.

  The selection of the coach and athlete(s) are central to ensuring that the programme delivers on this goal and equally position the Commonwealth Games Associations to realize the dream of increasing or realizing representation of their athletes at the Commonwealth Games. 

  For the GAPS Americas & Caribbean 2024 programme, special emphasis at present, will be placed on the sport of Para athletics, with the view to expanding this to more sports in the near future. 

   

• Lack of funding for deaf swimmers is ‘completely isolating a whole disability’

  One of the UK’s fastest deaf swimmers has spent more than 1,000 days campaigning against “discriminatory” policies that deny him funding.

  Nathan Young, a holder of seven national records, is not entitled to any Government or National Lottery money to support his ambitions.

  The reason is that UK Sport, the agency which allocates funding on behalf of those entities, is focused solely on Olympic and Paralympic sports.

  As deafness on its own is not a discipline in the Paralympics, Wirral-based Young, 24, falls outside its criteria.

  He is eligible to compete in the Deaflympics – the multi-sport event for deaf athletes sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee – but Great Britain does not financially back its entrants, unlike some other countries.

  The only central funding available for solely deaf athletes is at grassroots level, with nothing for elite competitors such as Young.

  That has left him needing to work and fundraise alongside his training to ensure he is able to meet the huge outlay needed to compete on the global stage.

  For most of the last three years, he has also spent a large amount of his time running a campaign to get the parameters for funding changed, believing the current rules to be unfair.

  “At the end of the day it’s discrimination,” said Young, whose campaign passed the 1,000-day mark in February.

  “It’s completely isolating a whole disability. If I was a Paralympic swimmer, I would have been getting paid since I was 16 or 17. It could have been a career that I could have had.

  “Right now, I train, I go to the gym but all the other things I should be getting as what you would class as an elite athlete, I don’t get any of it.

  “Others have the best treatment available to them to keep them going mentally, physically and in every aspect. I should be getting physio, doing strength and conditioning but I get none of that.

  “When I’m training right now, I’m thinking I should be working. It’s not what I should be thinking about.”

  Young’s campaigning has involved giving numerous speeches and interviews as well as writing many letters and articles. He has also contacted MPs and, as part of a wider campaign with UK Deaf Sport, has even visited Parliament.

  With UK Sport funding for recent Olympic/Paralympic cycles being around £300million, it is a source of frustration for Young that not even a relatively small amount can be found for Deaflympians.

  “What we’re asking for is so little,” said Young, who might need to find around £3,000 to fund a trip to next year’s Deaflympics in Tokyo.

  “UK Deaf Sport only asked for £4million for us (deaf athletes), which is so little when there’s £300-and-something million for Olympic and Paralympic sport.

  “We’re getting the same responses. We keep pushing it and pushing it but it’s been over 1,000 days now and it’s been an exhausting journey.”

  A UK Sport statement read: “UK Sport’s remit is specifically focused on investing in sports and athletes who are eligible to compete at the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

  “The Deaflympics falls outside of Olympic and Paralympic sport. We are therefore unable to fund athletes targeting this event.”

  A spokesperson for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said: “This Government is dedicated to making sport in this country accessible and inclusive for everyone, including deaf people.

  “Sport England has committed £1.2million between 2022 and 2027 to boost deaf sport at the grassroots level through widening participation and supporting the development pathway for talented athletes.”