JENNA Moran, from Bude TABG Tae Kwon Do Club, competed in the British Championships in Telford last week.

After months of training and managing to get to the venue in spite if the icy road conditions, she was keen to test her sparring skills.

She was also surprised to find that she was the only competitor in her division who had managed to get to the venue, leaving her with the dilemma of accepting a gold medal simply for being the sole competitor present or opting to go up a few divisions and spar with the heavy weights. In spite of her new opponent being over a foot taller than herself, Jenna opted to fight.

'That was really hard,' she said, 'because her arms and legs were so long it was difficult to break through her defence, I just had to rely on speed and strength. Glad I trained hard!'

Jenna's training did pay off and she won the Bronze Cup, making her Britain's lightest heavyweight champion 2010.

'I'm very impressed with Jenna's success,' her Instructor, Mr Guy Southard, added, 'her dedication to her training has definitely paid off. She could have easily walked off with a gold medal but she chose to spar in the heavyweight class, and still came home with a trophy. It's not everyday you can be prouder of getting a Bronze than a Gold, but it proves that Jenna has indomitable spirit.'