Wikipedia

Jade Jones (taekwondo)

Jade Louise Jones OBE (born 21 March 1993) is a Welsh taekwondo athlete. She is the 2012 and 2016 Olympic gold medallist in the women's 57 kg category, and the 2019 World champion, 2016, 2018 and 2021 European champion and both 2015 European Games and 2023 European Games champion at the same weight, the only double gold medalist at her weight in the history of those Games. In 2012, she won Britain's first taekwondo Olympic gold medal.[3] Jones was at the time the reigning Youth Olympic champion in the girls' 55 kg category, winning gold for Great Britain in 2010.

Jade Jones
OBE
Jones at the 2016 Olympics
Personal information
NicknameThe Headhunter[1]
Born (1993-03-21) 21 March 1993 (age 31)
Bodelwyddan, Wales
Height1.67 m (5 ft 6 in)[2]
Weight57 kg (126 lb)
Sport
Country Great Britain
SportTaekwondo
Event –57 kg
ClubGB Academy
TeamGBR
Turned pro2010
Coached byMartin Stamper
Medal record
Women's taekwondo
Representing  Great Britain
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2012 London 57 kg
Gold medal – first place 2016 Rio de Janeiro 57 kg
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2019 Manchester 57 kg
Silver medal – second place 2011 Gyeongju 57 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2017 Muju 57 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Guadalajara 57 kg
Grand Prix
Gold medal – first place 2014 Querétaro (F) 57 kg
Gold medal – first place 2015 Samsun 57 kg
Gold medal – first place 2015 Manchester 57 kg
Gold medal – first place 2016 Baku (F) 57 kg
Gold medal – first place 2017 London 57 kg
Gold medal – first place 2017 Abidjan (F) 57 kg
Gold medal – first place 2018 Rome 57 kg
Gold medal – first place 2018 Manchester 57 kg
Gold medal – first place 2023 Rome 57 kg
Gold medal – first place 2023 Paris 57 kg
Silver medal – second place 2013 Manchester 57 kg
Silver medal – second place 2014 Astana 57 kg
Silver medal – second place 2014 Manchester 57 kg
Silver medal – second place 2015 Moscow 57 kg
Silver medal – second place 2017 Rabat 57 kg
Silver medal – second place 2022 Rome 57 kg
Silver medal – second place 2022 Manchester 57 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2015 Mexico City (F) 57 kg
European Games
Gold medal – first place 2015 Baku 57 kg
Gold medal – first place 2023 Kraków-Małopolska 57 kg
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2016 Montreux 57 kg
Gold medal – first place 2018 Kazan 57 kg
Gold medal – first place 2021 Sofia 57 kg
Silver medal – second place 2014 Baku 57 kg
Silver medal – second place 2024 Belgrade 57 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2010 St. Petersburg 53 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2012 Manchester 57 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Manchester 57 kg
Youth Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2010 Singapore 55 kg
World Junior Championships
Silver medal – second place 2010 Tijuana 57 kg
Updated on 18 April 2020

Career history

edit

Jones was born in Bodelwyddan, Denbighshire, Wales.[4][5] She attended Flint High School leaving aged 16 to take up taekwondo full-time.[6] As of 2012, Jones was 1.69 metres (5 ft 7 in) tall and weighed 57 kilograms (126 lb).[5] She competes as part of the GB Taekwondo Academy, which is based in Manchester.

In 2010 Jones won a bronze medal at the 2010 European Taekwondo Championships in Saint Petersburg, Russia.[7] Jones competed for Great Britain at the inaugural Summer Youth Olympics in Singapore; she beat Vietnam's Thanh Thao Nguyen 9–6 in the 55 kg category final to become Great Britain's first gold medallist at the Games.[8][9] She was named BBC Cymru Wales Junior Sportswoman of the Year 2010.[10] She is nicknamed "The Headhunter" because she prefers to try to score points from her opponent's head rather than their body as successful kicks to the head are awarded more points than successful kicks to the body.[1]

Jones won her first senior title at the US Open in Austin, Texas in February 2011. She won gold in the −62 kg division having won bronze in the −57 kg competition the previous day.[11] At the 2011 World Taekwondo Championships in Gyeongju, South Korea Jones advanced to the final of the 57 kg event after beating Marlène Harnois of France in the semi-finals. She won the silver medal after losing to China's Hou Yuzhuo in a sudden-death round.[12] In October 2011 Jones won a gold medal at the British Open in Manchester by defeating Harnois 10–8 in the final.[13] At the French Open she won a bronze medal after losing to Harnois in the semi-finals.[14]

At the German Open held in Hamburg in March 2012 Jones won a silver medal losing to China's Yun Wang in the final.[15][16] In May 2012 she won a bronze medal at the 2012 European Taekwondo Championships in Manchester.[17]

Jones was selected to compete for Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the women's 57 kg weight category.[18] In the games Jones beat Chinese Taipei's top seed Tseng Li-Cheng in the semi-finals after having beaten Japan's Mayu Hamada in the quarter-finals and Serbia's Dragana Gladović in her first bout.[19] In the final on 9 August 2012. she beat Hou Yuzhuo of China 6 points to 4 to become the first Briton to win a taekwondo gold medal.[20]

Jones narrowly lost 10–9 to Iranian Kimia Alizadeh at the quarter-finals stage of the 2015 World Taekwondo Championships in Russia on 17 May 2015. The result was controversial, as the electronic scoring system crashed during the bout.[citation needed] At the 2016 Olympic Games, Jones again won the gold medal, beating Spain's Eva Calvo, by 16–7 in the final.[21]

Jones was knocked out in the first round during the 2020 Olympic Games.[22]

She won one of the bronze medals in the women's featherweight event at the 2022 World Taekwondo Championships held in Guadalajara, Mexico.

In December 2023, Jones was provisionally suspended after failing to supply a urine sample when requested by the UK Anti-Doping Agency (UKAD). However, she was cleared to resume competition in July 2024, when UKAD ruled that confidential medical records showed Jones bore "no fault or negligence for her refusal or failure to submit to her sample collection" and stated it was satisfied not to punish Jones on the "very exceptional circumstances".[23][24][25]

Jones was selected for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris[26][27] but went out in the first round, losing to Miljana Reljiḱ from North Macedonia.[28][29] She was competing to become the first three-time Olympic champion in the sport's history before her defeat.[30]

Personal life

edit

Jones won the public vote for the BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year 2012.[31] She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to taekwondo[32][33] and Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to taekwondo and sport.[34][35]

Jade was introduced to taekwondo by her grandfather when he saw her misbehaving at age 8. She lives with a roommate, Bianca Walkden, a fellow Olympic taekwondo competitor. The two are training partners, along with Walkden's partner, another Olympic taekwondo fighter, Aaron Cook.[36]

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "Jade Jones celebrates Olympic Taekwondo gold". bbc.co.uk. 10 August 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  2. ^ Jade Jones Archived 26 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine. rio2016.com
  3. ^ "Jade Jones gives Britain first taekwondo gold". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 19 June 2020. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  4. ^ "Jade Jones: Taekwondo gold medal joy for Olympian" BBC News Wales, 10 August 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2012
  5. ^ a b "Jade Jones: Team GB". British Olympic Association. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  6. ^ "Teenage kicks! Ecstatic Jade Jones takes Britain's first Taekwondo gold". www.standard.co.uk. 9 August 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
  7. ^ Griffiths, Gareth (4 June 2012). "Jade Jones going for gold medal at 2012 Olympics". Wales Online. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  8. ^ "Jade Jones wins Britain's first Youth Olympics gold". BBC Sport. 17 August 2010. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  9. ^ Williams, Bob (23 December 2010). "Jade Jones named British Olympic Association taekwondo athlete of the year". The Telegraph. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  10. ^ Williams, Bob (7 December 2010). "Jade Jones wins BBC Cymru Wales Junior Sportswoman of the Year 2010". The Telegraph. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  11. ^ Hope, Nick (21 February 2011). "Youth Olympian Jade Jones claims first senior title". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  12. ^ Hope, Nick (4 May 2011). "Jade Jones wins World Championship silver medal". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  13. ^ Hope, Nick (1 October 2011). "Triple gold medal for GB at British Open". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  14. ^ "Jade Jones takes taekwondo bronze at French Open". BBC Sport. 12 December 2011. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  15. ^ Hope, Nick (5 March 2012). "London 2012: Damon Sansum wins taekwondo gold in Germany". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  16. ^ "Taekwondo: Jade Jones claims silver in German Open". www.walesonline.co.uk. 4 March 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  17. ^ "Taekwondo: Jade Jones bags bronze in European Championships". Wales Online. 6 May 2012. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  18. ^ "London 2012: Sarah Stevenson leads GB taekwondo team". BBC Sport. 1 June 2012. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  19. ^ "Wales' Jade Jones to bid for taekwondo gold at London 2012". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  20. ^ "Jade Jones wins Olympic taekwondo gold for Great Britain". BBC Sport. 9 August 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
  21. ^ "Rio Olympics 2016: Jade Jones retains −57kg taekwondo title". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  22. ^ Ronay, Barney (25 July 2021). "'Absolutely gutted': Britain's Jade Jones laments shock Olympic taekwondo exit". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  23. ^ "Jones avoids ban because of 'exceptional circumstances'". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  24. ^ "Jade Jones avoids ban over no-fault doping violation". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  25. ^ "Jade Jones avoids ban over no-fault doping violation". Express and Star. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  26. ^ "Bianca Cook misses out on Team GB Olympic taekwondo place as Jade Jones _targets third gold". The Independent. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  27. ^ "Jones to chase third Olympic gold but Cook misses out". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  28. ^ "Olympics 2024: Jade Jones beaten in taekwondo knockouts". ESPN. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
  29. ^ "Jade Jones left on knees after shock first-round defeat and Olympic gold dream over". Wales Online. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
  30. ^ Zeqiri, Daniel; Briggs, Simon; Corrigan, James; Morgan, Tom (8 August 2024). "Paris Olympics 2024 live: Jade Jones slips to shock defeat in taekwondo". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
  31. ^ "Welsh Sports Personality of the Year 2012: Jade Jones triumphs". bbc.co.uk. 10 December 2012. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  32. ^ "No. 60367". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 2012. p. 25.
  33. ^ "2013 New Year's Honours" (PDF). Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  34. ^ "No. 62866". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 December 2019. p. N13.
  35. ^ "Jones and Dykes to receive New Year honours". BBC Sport.
  36. ^ "What makes double Olympic taekwondo champion Jade Jones tick?". Olympics.com. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
edit
 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jade Jones.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jade_Jones_(taekwondo)&oldid=1259802685"
  NODES
Association 2
Note 1