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 2020 European champion and 2015 European Games champion at the same weight. In 2012, she won Britain's first taekwondo Olympic gold medal in this category.[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
Nickname(s)The Headhunter[1]
NationalityBritish
Born (1993-03-21) 21 March 1993
Bodelwyddan, Wales, UK
Height1.67 m (5 ft 6 in)[2]
Weight57 kg (126 lb)
Sport
Country Great Britain
SportTaekwondo
Event(s) –57 kg
ClubGB Academy
TeamGBR
Turned pro2010
Coached byPaul Green
Medal record
Women's taekwondo
Representing  Great Britain
Olympic Games
2012 London57 kg
2016 Rio de Janeiro57 kg
World Championships
2019 Manchester57 kg
2011 Gyeongju57 kg
2017 Muju57 kg
Grand Prix
2014 Querétaro57 kg
2015 Samsun57 kg
2015 Manchester57 kg
2016 Baku57 kg
2017 London57 kg
2017 Abidjan57 kg
2018 Rome57 kg
2018 Manchester57 kg
2013 Manchester57 kg
2014 Astana57 kg
2014 Manchester57 kg
2015 Moscow57 kg
2017 Rabat57 kg
2015 Mexico City57 kg
European Championships
2016 Montreux57 kg
2018 Kazan57 kg
2014 Baku57 kg
2010 St. Petersburg53 kg
2012 Manchester57 kg
European Games
2015 Baku57 kg
Youth Olympic Games
2010 Singapore 55 kg
World Junior Championships
2010 Tijuana57 kg
Updated on 18 April 2020.

Career history

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 is 1.69 metres (5 ft 7 in) tall and weighs 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. At the 2016 Olympic Games, Jones again won the gold medal, beating Spain's, Eva Calvo, by 16–7 in the final.[21]

Jones won the public vote for the BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year 2012.[22] Jones was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to taekwondo[23][24] and Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to taekwondo and sport.[25][26]

Personal life

Jade was introduced to taekwondo by her grandfather for self-defence (aged 8).

It was confirmed that Jones would take part in E4 reality dating show Celebs Go Dating in 2018.[27]

See also

References
  1. "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". Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  4. "Jade Jones: Taekwondo gold medal joy for Olympian" BBC News Wales, 10 August 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2012
  5. "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. "Welsh Sports Personality of the Year 2012: Jade Jones triumphs". bbc.co.uk. 10 December 2012. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  23. "No. 60367". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 2012. p. 25.
  24. "2013 New Year's Honours" (PDF). Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  25. "No. 62866". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 December 2019. p. N13.
  27. Dating, Celebs Go (20 November 2017). "Here to kick-start her love life, @jadejonestkd joins our agency #CelebsGoDatingpic.twitter.com/UedmnfzTE0". Retrieved 20 April 2019.
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