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.”
Olympic medallist Ben Whittaker feels sacrifices are paying off in pro career
Ben Whittaker revealed he missed his grandmother’s funeral in the lead up to Tokyo 2020 and feels his sacrifices are paying off ahead of his light-heavyweight clash with Leon Willings.
The 26-year-old, who continued his unbeaten start to his professional career with a stylish victory over Khalid Graidia in February, returns to action on the undercard of Fabio Wardley v Frazer Clarke at the O2 on Sunday.
Ahead of his seventh professional bout, Olympic silver medallist Whittaker revealed some of the difficult choices he has had to make in his life away from the spotlight.
“Not many people have seen the sacrifices I’ve made,” Whittaker told the PA news agency.
“The little things like when I ran before school, my dad would wake me up in the morning for swimming.
“Even more recently leading up to the Olympics I had to miss my grandmother’s funeral and not a lot of people see that. It’s a sacrifice and it’s paying off.”
Whittaker has amassed over 1 million Instagram followers after his showboating antics last time out gained the attention of supporters.
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He reiterated that despite wanting to entertain, he is looking to “win by any means” this weekend.
“I’m professional so I know when and when not to do it and at the end of the day a win is all that matters,” Whittaker added.
“If I start hopping on one leg, doing flips and I lose, the fans will be entertained. You’ve got to win and that’s what I’ll do. Anything else is a bonus.
“I predict a win. A win by any means.”
The undefeated Whittaker faces Widnes fighter Willings, who has a 7-1 career record, in what will be his second fight of 2024.
The Midlands man believes his ability will be too much for his opponent in London.
“I’m as confident as ever,” he said.
“He’s young and hungry and he’s got a winning mentality but I believe I’m just levels above and that will show on Sunday.
“If you don’t have confidence in this game there’s no point being in it because it’s a dangerous sport. I get my confidence from the work I put in and I make it look so easy because I train two to three times a day and cut no corners.
“I’m better than him in all compartments.”
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.”
On this day in 2022: Sir Jason Kenny calls time on record-breaking racing career
Sir Jason Kenny announced his retirement from a glittering racing career to move into coaching on this day in 2022.
Great Britain’s greatest Olympian with seven gold medals to his name, Kenny admitted to being “a little bit sad” as he called time on a phase of his life which had made him a household name.
The then 33-year-old, who had won a stunning keirin gold in Tokyo during the previous summer to claim a seventh Olympic title 13 years after his first in Beijing, had been planning to keep going until the Paris Games in 2024.
However, he admitted the opportunity to coach the British squad was one he could not pass up.
Kenny said: “It wasn’t an easy decision. I genuinely wanted to carry on to Paris, but I creak quite a lot these days and I always knew I wanted to go into coaching off the back of it, and this opportunity came along.
“I am a little bit sad, to be honest, because all I’ve known is riding and competing, but I’m quite excited to get stuck into the job.”
Kenny replaced Scott Pollock, who had served as sprint coach in an interim role following the dismissal of Kevin Stewart in November 2020.
He had retired once before, silently stepping away after winning team sprint, individual sprint and keirin gold at the 2016 Rio Games, without announcing his decision until he reversed it a year later.
Kenny said: “Last time, I didn’t realise it, but I was just cooked. I’d never really taken a break [in 10 years], so I just stepped away. Because I never planned on coming back, I completely switched off and got that re-fresh.
“In Rio, I was quite happy to see the back of it. But then since coming back and being refreshed, it’s a lot harder to walk away.”
Kenny was knighted in the 2022 New Year Honours List, while his wife and fellow cyclist Laura – formerly Trott – received a damehood after establishing herself as Britain’s most decorated female Olympian with five golds.
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