By Gary Anderson

September 11 - Beijing 2008 bronze medallist Sarah Stevenson will be a Taekwondo Ambassador at the World Combat GamesFormer taekwondo world champion Sarah Stevenson has been named as the sport's ambassador for the 2013 SportAccord World Combat Games taking place in St Petersburg next month.


The Briton, who also won bronze in the plus 67 kg division at the Beijing 2008 Olympics, was appointed to the role by the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF).

She joins the likes of Russia's double Olympic fencing champion Karina Aznavourian and two-time wushu world champion Daria Tarasova, French jujitsu world champion Vincent Parisi and 92-year-old International Kendo Federation President Yoshimitsu Takeyasu as members of the sports ambassadors programme.

Their role will be to engage in the promotion of their sports, and the world of martial arts and combat sports during the Games, by attending press conferences, and carrying out radio, television, newspaper and magazine interviews.

Stevenson, who announced her retirement from competition in April this year, became junior world champion in 1998 at the age of 15, before going on to compete at four Olympics and become a four-time European champion.

She was also nominated to read out the Athlete Oath at the Opening Ceremony of London 2012.

Sarah Stevenson was chosen to read out the Athlete Oath at the Opening Ceremony of London 2012Sarah Stevenson was chosen to read out the Athlete Oath at the Opening Ceremony of London 2012


























"I am so proud of what I have achieved both on and off the mat," said Stevenson, who has set up her own company called Sarah Stevenson Inspires, with the aim of educating and training young athletes across a range of sports.

"I am now committed to pass on my experiences and help young people gain the life skills and opportunities that I have had over the years.

"My ambition is to keep raising the profile of taekwondo as a sport and encourage all youngsters to feel the benefits that come from being involved in sport."

The event in St Petersburg will be the second staging of the World Combat Games following on from Beijing in 2010 and is due to take place between October 18 and 26.

Athletes will compete across 15 sports including aikido, boxing, fencing, judo, jujitsu, karate, kendo, kickboxing, muaythai, sambo, savate, sumo, taekwondo, wrestling and wushu.

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