"Do I get scared to fight?"

In any other circumstances, it's a question that would stop you in your tracks. Especially when it's a charming 25-year-old woman doing the asking.

But this is Doncaster taekwondo star Sarah Stevenson talking as she prepares for her third Olympics in the full-contact martial art characterised by its rapid, high-kicking action and frequent knock-outs.

The Chinese fighters have long been the ones to watch; heavyweight Chen Zhong, for instance, is undefeated in Olympic competition and has two gold medals to show for it. And this year's hopefuls are walking straight into their backyard. Yet Stevenson giggles playfully when it is mentioned.

"The Chinese are probably even more of a threat now because obviously it's in Beijing," she says. "It is going to be quite difficult. But if I fight them then I've just got to deal with it."

Stevenson, though, is no rookie. In 2000, she went to the Sydney Olympics as a quiet 17-year-old and finished fourth. Four years later, with a weight of expectation on her shoulders thanks to her previous exploits, she bowed out in the first round. This time it's about getting third time lucky - with a healthy sense of perspective.

"The thing I'm most looking forward to is getting a third chance to try and do better than I have done before. And I want to enjoy the experience because I think when I was younger I used to put too much pressure on myself and be too nervous but this time I'm going to go there and enjoy it, have a laugh and smile more."

Eight years ago, things were very different.

As the sole Great Britain taekwondo representative, and the youngest member of Team GB, all the spotlights were turned on her.

Added to the pressure was knowing how hard it had been to get to Sydney in the first place. Martial arts superstar Jackie Chan backed her cause with £2,500 from the premiere of his latest film 'Shanghai Noon'.

"I believe that one day she will win at the Olympics," he said at the time. "When she does I will cry."

Then, it was cinema tickets and the generosity of her family and friends that paid Stevenson's way Down Under.

Now, it's Lottery tickets.

Stevenson is a key beneficiary of the National Lottery world class sport funding programme. The top 16 taekwondo fighters from across the country now gather together twice a day, six days a week at a purpose-built Lottery-funded gym in Manchester, and they are housed in paid-for accommodation nearby.

"It's amazing now," says Stevenson. "These kids don't know what it was like before. They have everything they could want. They've got a nutritionalist, they've got the English Institute of Sport (which provides expert back-up services to athletes), they've got free physio, free doctors - everything they ever want. I think it's brilliant now for the younger people coming through and because of that, we are getting so much stronger as a team."

Stevenson muses thoughtfully over every journalist's favourite question - the one about being scared. Desperate to win an Olympic medal, she is more concerned about the possibility failure than about pain.

"It's not about being scared of getting hurt because everyone gets hurt every single day. We're covered in bruises so that's not a problem, that's not why we're scared.

"It's more about being nervous if we don't win or don't perform."

To find out more about Lottery funding, log onto www.uksport.gov.uk