SARAH STEVENSON made taekwondo history twice in an afternoon yesterday after the fighting spilled off the mat at the Beijing University of Science and Technology: her bronze in the +67kg group was not only the first ever medal to be won by a British taekwondo fighter but followed the first successful protest seen in the sport.

“It was blatant robbery. I’ve been stopped from fighting in a final I could have been in. There’s one thing I hate about this sport and it’s that the judges can control people’s lives and can take points away and they can do whatever they want,” said the 25-year-old from Doncaster, who sparked an official inquiry by the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) into judging practice after being deemed to have lost a quarter-final bout in which she was unfairly denied two points for a kick to the head of China’s Zhong Chen. Britain lodged an appeal, the WTF asked China how it felt, the Olympic host decided to be gracious and the federation’s supervisory panel overturned the result.

Stevenson was then given 20 minutes to rise from the depths of despair and prepare for a semi-final against Mexico’s Maria Espinoza. Emotionally and psychologically drained, Stevenson sprained her ankle and succumbed 4-1 to an opponent she had met and defeated twice before.

At the end of a day in which some dubious judging led to the expulsion of a Cuban fighter and sanction of his coach after they attacked a referee and judge, the WTF secretary general Jin Suk Yang declared that all was well that ended well. Stevenson begged to differ. She had been booed by the Chinese crowd as the reversed decision was announced and then fought her next bout in a tidal wave of support for the Mexican.

Her shot at gold gone, Stevenson had to get herself back up again to fight for bronze within the hour. After a decisive 5-1 defeat of Egyptian Noha Abd Rabo, the bronze medal secured, the British fighter said: “I didn’t expect to fight - my mind wasn’t ready and my body wasn’t ready. I did so much mental preparation but I just blew it then. I didn’t have any tactics so I had 20 minutes to look at videos and warm up.”

At 17, Stevenson was tipped as a champion by martial arts film star Jackie Chan, who put his money where his mouth was to support her travelling expenses. He would have been proud.