The Fleetwood Olympian has been watching her friends and former Great Britain team-mates compete over the last two weeks in Beijing and there is no denying she wishes she was there with them.

But the 25-year-old taekwondo ace, who competed in the Athens games four years ago, was dealt a knockout blow when she had her funding cut by the sport's governing bodies and was left out of the squad which went to the World Championships in 2005.

Sarah was not deterred by the set-back and finished her degree at Loughborough University, before going on to share her martial arts skills by teaching youngsters at local clubs.

She is now hoping to start in the prison service, but for the moment is doing security work.

The fighter, who lives in Dronsfield Road with her parents, is even talking about making a comeback in time for the Olympics on home-turf, in London in 2012 – inspired by Team GB's recent medal success in sailing, rowing, swimming, and even athletics.

She told The Gazette: "I've been glued to the Olympics on TV when I can. It's been hard to tear myself away from it.

"I think our current success has been a long-time coming. Sport in the UK has become much more high-profile with athletes like Kelly Holmes and Paula Radcliffe. We are doing so well, it's amazing.

"I'm particularly interested obviously in the taekwondo. My friend Sarah Stevenson, whom I trained with and went to Athens with, is out there.

"I do wish I was there with them. I thought beforehand that I was going to be upset, but really I'm just finding it exciting and have been willing them all to do well.

"It is strange that I was there with Sarah four years ago. She has been texting me saying things like 'I can't believe you're not here, it's not the same without you', which has made me feel a bit emotional.

"It's hard to explain how close you get to your team-members, but you live together, eat together, train together and you do get very close. I stay in touch, mostly by email because they are all over the world competing and so on, with the team.

"And I went to see Sarah a few months ago when she was training in Manchester.

"It's hard watching it on TV because I see girls I have fought and beaten in the past competing and wish I could be there.

"I remember sitting there as part of the team, having dinner with people like Mark Lewis Francis.

"But my funding got cut after Athens. It was felt by the old coach that I had underperformed. I love taekwondo and still train now, so I carried on for a bit.

"But I had to finish my uni course and I made the decision to retire. I couldn't manage working full-time and training full-time as well, it just wouldn't have been possible.

"I have been doing a bit of teaching around clubs and going into local schools to do taster sessions with the children, to get them interested in the sport and in becoming more active.

"I applied for the police force, but was not successful so at the moment am re-thinking my career plans. I'm working in security for now and looking to move into the prison service.

"I think my taekwondo background could come in handy sometimes!"
And Sarah is not ruling out an appearance at the 2012 London games, if things go well.

She said: "I'm still keeping my options open. I never say never. There is a new coach now, whom I've had a heart-to-heart with.

" If anything, I'm more passionate now about taekwondo than I was before. I think perhaps at the time, I had done seven years of hard-core training, I was 22, maybe I took it a bit for granted.

"I needed a break, my body needed a rest from training and I think it has done me good.

"Now if I got the opportunity again, to be able to train and not worry about work and bills and have the chance to compete – I would really appreciate it.

"I am thinking about going back and competing again. I'm 25 now, so by the time it's the London games, I will be 29, which isn't too old.
"I'll just have to check out the other fighters and whether there are any 16-year-olds out there who will beat me!"