Eurosport - Wed, 14 Oct 11:35:00 2009
Olympic bronze medallist Sarah Stevenson said she has pioneered fundamental changes in taekwondo - and it will change the sport for the better.
The 26-year-old collected bronze in Beijing last summer the hard way, having been reinstated to the competition after judges missed a clear kick to her opponent's head in the final seconds of her quarter-final match.
For the judges to reverse their decision and eliminate Chen Zong of China was virtually unprecedented within taekwondo, but at this week's World Championships in Copenhagen, significant changes will be introduced to the scoring system.
And Stevenson, who picked up world gold in 2001 and silver four years later, is convinced the sport has improved for the better.
"I didn't really realise what the fight has done for taekwondo. I'm amazed that something for taekwondo changed and it's changed and that's for the better," she said.
"They weren't scoring my body shots and then right at the end I hit her in the face and I didn't get any points.
"Now they still have to do the head shots manually but now we've got electronic body armour and replays.
"We have these cards we can submit and if we think we've scored a shot we can report it - it's a bit like the Hawkeye in tennis."
Stevenson is one of 10 Brits competing in Denmark this week and, not being one to shy away from new challenges, she will be doing so with a broken hand.
"I've not fought with a broken hand before, it's a new test for me," she added.
"It's about time I won it again and I need a good one now. I was just 18 the last time and I was really quite naive. I didn't expect anything and that's how I got through it."
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