The 25-year-old flew to Azerbaijan earlier this week to compete in the 2009 WTF World Cup tae kwon do Team Championships where she will represent Great Britain in the women's +67kg category.

Almost ten months ago the brave Bentley athlete fought through the pain barrier to win Team GB's first ever Olympic tae kwon do medal in dramatic fashion.

But the ankle ligament injury sustained by Stevenson during the Beijing competition saw the former world champion embark on yet another long term injury battle.

This week Sarah's father Roy told the Free Press that his daughter is close to regaining full fitness - and already has one eye on the World Championships in Denmark later this year.

He said: "Sarah had her first fights since the Olympics last weekend and she came through them okay.

"She beat a Chinese and a Korean competitor at a warm up event in Manchester.

"Hopefully she'll come away from this competition with no problems.

"The World Championships are coming up in October and the British team is hoping to have her fully fit for that," he added.

"It's been doing her head in not being able to fight for so long so she's delighted to get back into it."

Stevenson is no stranger to serious injuries after recovering from a career threatening cruciate knee ligament injury to fight at the Athens Olympics five years ago.

She also suffered a broken hand in 2007 but returned to action the following year with wins at the Dutch and Belgian Opens.

Stevenson lost her Olympic quarter final against Chen Zhong last August - only to be reinstated after the judges awarded her a high kick to the head after watching video replays.

She went on to lose her semi-final contest against Maria del Rosario Espinoza of Mexico 4-1 but battled back to win bronze despite suffering a badly twisted ankle.

The 2009 WTF World Cup tae kwon do Team Championships will run from today until Sunday in Baku, Azerbaijan.

For the first time ever at a WTF event competitors will wear electronic protectors, while judges will be able to use an instant video replay system.