I won't be fighting in Rio but you could as taekwondo seeks new stars
|
UPDATED:
22:09 GMT, 25 November 2012
Sarah Stevenson, the first British athlete to win an Olympic medal in taekwondo, is trying to teach me how to kick.
This is no mean feat, considering I am about as flexible as the tin man from The Wizard of Oz, but she offers a kind appraisal of my efforts with my right leg.
My left leg, however, is ‘crap’. She doesn’t mince her words, Stevenson, though they are delivered with a smile.
Scroll down to watch a video of Laura in training
Full stretch: Laura Williamson tries out taekwondo with Sarah Stevenson at the UK centre in Manchester
More from Laura Williamson…
Laura Williamson: Dangerous message that strong isn't sexy for women
18/11/12
Laura Williamson: As Sportsmail enters the ring with an Olympic star, Jonas shows being a warrior woman is worth fighting for
11/11/12
Laura Williamson: Kids have no chance when vile chants are treated like nursery rhymes
06/11/12
Laura Williamson: Wit is the only way to counter football's vile chants
04/11/12
Laura Williamson: After Twenty20 World Cup we must now start taking women's cricket seriously
07/10/12
Laura Williamson: Don't use women's sport just to plug a gap, please Auntie…
23/09/12
Laura Williamson: Thanks to our Ellie, 'normal' has been redefined
16/09/12
Laura Williamson: It was just great, and thank you for putting sport first
09/09/12
VIEW FULL ARCHIVE
‘You can be the best kicker in the
world,’ she adds, more encouragingly, ‘but if you haven’t got the bottle
in this sport there’s no point doing it.
‘I’ve
seen lots of champions in the gym. They’re amazing with their kicking
but they can’t fight. You’ve got do what needs to be done in the ring.’
This, I quickly realise, is part of the ‘hardcore attitude’ that got Stevenson to the Olympics despite a 12-month ordeal nobody should ever have to endure. After becoming world champion in May 2011 she lost her father Roy to a brain tumour in July and then her mother, Diana, to cancer in October.
It almost seems insignificant in comparison, but Stevenson then had surgery to repair cruciate ligament damage in February this year – and yet still made it onto the mat at London 2012. The 29-year-old from Doncaster lost in the first round, but just getting there represented a quite remarkable achievement.
It is this kind of extraordinary ‘bottle’ GB Taekwondo want as they aim to recruit the next wave of Sarah Stevensons in the run up to the Rio Olympics in 2016. Keen to build on the success of the London Games, where Jade Jones won gold in the -57kg category and Lutalo Muhammad – who came through the Talent 2012 scheme – a bronze at -87kg, they are looking for males and females aged between 16 and 26 who have enjoyed national success in a kick-based martial art to transfer to Olympic taekwondo. The only criteria I fit is being female, before you ask.
‘I’d want to see a decent amount of technique,’ said Stevenson, ‘but if they’ve got a good attitude with some all right kicking skills, you can’t teach that.
‘I never really saw any (girls) with that fighting spirit, like I thought I had, until little Jade Jones came along.
DM.has('rcpv1988232007001','BCVideo');
‘Just because you’re a girl doesn’t mean you can’t do this sport. We need to get more girls and we need more depth.
‘Imagine if the girls had the depth as well as the talent we’ve already got We would be smashing it, wouldn’t we’
Stevenson and Jones are used to training with the boys. They believe it has contributed to their success, but it can be demoralising winning only occasionally in sparring sessions, while the timing is different to fighting a girl.
They accept there are stigmas attached to taekwondo that could be off-putting for female athletes – ‘little Jade Jones’ rolls her eyes at the fact people always expect her to be ‘this big, hulk-looking type person’ – but extol the impact it has had on their confidence and self-belief.
Potential: Laura worked with London Olympian Stevenson as part of taekwondo's drive for Rio
‘You do change,’ says Stevenson. ‘You’re not this girl, you’re an athlete. You don’t think about being a girl. You think: “Come on. We’re having a fight.”
‘If you’re going to sign up then you’ve got to know that this is not easy. This is the hardest thing you’re ever going to do.
‘But hopefully it’s going to help other girls to get involved and to be that other person they want to be, rather than sitting at home in pink putting make up on.’
Stevenson pauses and smiles again.
‘You can do that at a weekend,’ she adds.
If you are involved in martial arts and want to find out more about Fighting Chance:Battle4Brazil go to www.uksport.gov.uk/talent.
WHAT I’VE BEEN DOING THIS WEEK…
Visiting Barcelona for the IAAF Athlete of the Year awards, won by Usain Bolt and Allyson Felix. Bolt’s ‘double double’ – becoming the first man to win the Olympic 100-metre and 200m titles at consecutive Olympics – was incredible, but David Rudisha would have got my vote. The Kenyan’s world record-breaking 800m run in London was an extraordinary sporting performance in a stellar year for athletics.
Listening to Arsene Wenger talk about the ‘completely emotional’ world of football on Tuesday.
Winners: Usain Bolt and Allyson Felix were named athletes of the year
Now they speak of (Roberto) Di Matteo (getting sacked),’ said the Arsenal boss, with incredulity in his voice. ‘He’s just won the Champions League and the FA Cup!’ Some 16 hours later, Di Matteo was out of a job.
Emotional Football this week been more like someone eating their body weight in chocolate and sobbing uncontrollably over a series of rom-coms: completely irrational.
Noting QPR’s decision to announce Mark Hughes’ dismissal via Twitter on Friday. There’s more than a hint of irony there, given the Welshman’s obvious – and understandable – unease with Joey Barton and Tony Fernandes’ propensity to express their opinions in 140 characters.
THEY SAID WHAT
A chap called AJ McArthur is the commissioner of the – wait for it – Bikini Basketball Association, an eight-team league of players (wearing sports bras and tight shorts) with ‘looks, personality and playing ability’, which is slated to start in America next spring.
‘The main point,’ said McArthur, ‘is that this is a sport everyone loves.’ No, I definitely don’t think that’s the main point of this particular endeavour.
PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK
The England women’s rugby union team came back from 13-3 down to defeat the world champions, New Zealand, 16-13 on Friday. England are now unbeaten in four matches against the Black Ferns. Roll on the next clash on Tuesday.
