London 2012 Olympics: Jade Jones’s gold is a gem for Taekwondo
Jones avenged her 2011 World Championship defeat to Hou Yuzhuo of China in the women’s under-57kg on the biggest stage of all last night.
Stevenson – who has had her own testing journey to London 2012 – will aim to add to the bronze she won in Beijing four years ago when she competes at under-67kgs later this morning. Muhammad, meanwhile, will also be in action at under-80kgs, the Walthamstow fighter out to show why he was the right choice ahead of world No. 1 Aaron Cook.
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Hide Ad“There was a lot of pressure on taekwondo to do well here, because we have got the potential,” Jones said.
“The whole team has come a long way in a short period of time. We are getting bigger and better.”
Wales teenager Jones had opened her Olympic debut with an impressive 15-1 victory over Serbian Dragana Gladovi and dispatched Japan’s Mayu Hamada 13-3 in the last eight before a late rally of trademark headkicks beat world No. 1 Tseng Li-Cheng of Chinese Taipei.
The 19-year-old from Flintshire showed no fear in the final against the Chinese fighter, closing out a 6-4 victory as South Arena 1 erupted.
Jones – taken to a local club by her grandad aged eight – was not going to let anything get in the way of her Olympic dream.
“I hurt my foot in the very first fight – it was a kick to the shin – so I had an injection in it,” she said. “At first, I was whingeing and feeling sorry for myself, but I just had to deal with because I wanted to win.”