Jade Louise Jones (born 21 March 1993) is a Welsh

taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. T ...

athlete. She is the

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and 2016 Olympic gold medallist in the women's 57 kg category, and the 2019 World champion, 2016, 2018 and 2021 European champion and

2015 European Games The 2015 European Games, also known as Baku 2015 or Baku 2015 European Games ( az, Bakı 2015 Avropa Oyunları), were the inaugural edition of the European Games, an international multi-sport event for athletes representing the National Olympic ...

champion at the same weight. In 2012, she won Britain's first taekwondo Olympic gold medal in this category. Jones was at the time the reigning Youth Olympic champion in the girls' 55 kg category, winning gold for Great Britain in 2010.

Career history

Jones was born in

Bodelwyddan Bodelwyddan () is a village, Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward and community (Wales), community in Denbighshire, Wales, approximately 5 miles (8 km) South of Rhyl. The Parish includes several smaller hamle ...

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewy ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. She attended

Flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start fir ...

High School leaving aged 16 to take up taekwondo full-time. , Jones was tall and weighs . She competes as part of the GB Taekwondo Academy, which is based in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. In 2010 Jones won a bronze medal at the

2010 European Taekwondo Championships The 2010 European Taekwondo Championships was held at the Yubileyny Sports Palace in Saint Petersburg, Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Eu ...

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, Russia. Jones competed for Great Britain at the inaugural

Summer Youth Olympics The Youth Olympic Games (YOG) is an international multi-sport event for athletes between 15 and 18 years old, organized by the International Olympic Committee. The games are held every four years in staggered summer and winter events consisten ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

; 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. She was named

BBC Cymru Wales BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Wales. It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, BBC Cymru Wales is ...

Junior Sportswoman of the Year 2010. 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. Jones won her first senior title at the US Open in

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

in February 2011. She won gold in the −62 kg division having won bronze in the −57 kg competition the previous day. At the

2011 World Taekwondo Championships The 2011 World Taekwondo Championships was the 20th edition of the World Taekwondo Championships, and was held at Gyeongju Indoor Stadium in Gyeongju, South Korea from May 1 to May 6, 2011. Medal summary Men Women Medal table Team ranki ...

Gyeongju Gyeongju ( ko, 경주, ), historically known as ''Seorabeol'' ( ko, 서라벌, ), is a coastal city in the far southeastern corner of North Gyeongsang Province in South Korea. It is the second largest city by area in the province after Andong, ...

, South Korea Jones advanced to the final of the 57 kg event after beating

Marlène Harnois Marlène Olivia Harnois (born 22 October 1986) is a Canadian-born French taekwondo Olympic medalist, TV personality, philanthropist and a Knight of the Order of Merit, decorated by the President of France. She is a Champion for Peace represen ...

of France in the semi-finals. She won the silver medal after losing to China's Hou Yuzhuo in a sudden-death round. In October 2011 Jones won a gold medal at the British Open in Manchester by defeating Harnois 10–8 in the final. At the French Open she won a bronze medal after losing to Harnois in the semi-finals. At the German Open held in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

in March 2012 Jones won a silver medal losing to China's

Yun Wang Yun Wang (born 1964) is a poet and cosmologist. She is originally from Gaoping, Guizhou, Gaoping, a small town near Zunyi, in Guizhou Province, China. Professional work in astrophysics Yun Wang received a bachelor's degree in physics from Tsing ...

in the final. In May 2012 she won a bronze medal at the 2012 European Taekwondo Championships in Manchester. Jones was selected to compete for

Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Olympics Great Britain and Northern Ireland, represented by the British Olympic Association (BOA), competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom, from 27 July to 12 August 2012 as the host nation and the team of selected athletes was off ...

in the women's 57 kg weight category. In the games Jones beat

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One-China principle stipulated by th ...

's top seed Tseng Li-Cheng in the semi-finals after having beaten Japan's

Mayu Hamada is a Japanese taekwondo practitioner. She participated in the 2012 Summer Olympics, 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics. References External links

* * 1994 births Japanese female taekwondo practitioners Taekwondo practitioners at the 2 ...

in the quarter-finals and

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

Dragana Gladović Dragana Gladovic (Serbian Cyrillic: Драгана Гладовић, born 27 July 1992 in Šabac) is a Serbian taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean martial arts, Korean form o ...

in her first bout. 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. Jones narrowly lost 10–9 to Iranian

Kimia Alizadeh Kimia Alizadeh Zonouzi ( fa, کیمیا علیزاده زنوزی, Kīmiyā Alīzādeh Zonūzī; born 10 July 1998) is an Iranian Taekwondo athlete. Alizadeh won a bronze medal in the taekwondo 57 kg weight class at the 2016 Summer Olympics ...

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 ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro d ...

, Jones again won the gold medal, beating Spain's Eva Calvo, by 16–7 in the final. Jones won the public vote for the

BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year The BBC Cymru Wales Sports Personality of the Year is a televised sporting competition, broadcast on BBC Two every year; and the most prestigious annual sport award in Wales. It was first awarded in 1954, and is currently organised by BBC Cymru W ...

2012. Jones was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

2013 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2013 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Hon ...

for services to taekwondo and

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) in the

2020 New Year Honours The 2020 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebration ...

for services to taekwondo and sport. She won one of the bronze medals in the women's featherweight event at the 2022 World Taekwondo Championships held in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Personal life

Jade was introduced to taekwondo by her grandfather when he saw her misbehaving at age eight. She lives with a

roommate A roommate is a person with whom one shares a living facility such as a room or dormitory ''except'' when being family or romantically involved. Similar terms include dormmate, suitemate, housemate, or flatmate ("flat": the usual term in Britis ...

Bianca Walkden Bianca Cook, also known as Bianca Walkden (born 29 September 1991) is a British taekwondo athlete and Olympian. She is a three-time World champion, twice World Grand Prix champion, four-time European champion and a double Olympic medallist. Ca ...

, a fellow Olympic Taekwondo Fighter. The two are training partners, along with Walkden's partner, another Olympic Taekwondo Fighter,

Aaron Cook Aaron Cook may refer to: *Aaron Cook (baseball) (born 1979), Major League Baseball pitcher * Aaron Cook (footballer) (born 1979), Welsh footballer * Aaron Cook (politician), Nauruan politician *Aaron Cook (taekwondo) Aaron Arthur Cook (born 2 ...

References

External links

*
Jade Jones
on

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Jade 1993 births Living people European Games gold medalists for Great Britain European Games medalists in taekwondo European Taekwondo Championships medalists Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Officers of the Order of the British Empire Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Olympic medalists in taekwondo Olympic taekwondo practitioners of Great Britain People from Flint, Flintshire Taekwondo practitioners at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics Taekwondo practitioners at the 2012 Summer Olympics Taekwondo practitioners at the 2015 European Games Taekwondo practitioners at the 2016 Summer Olympics Taekwondo practitioners at the 2020 Summer Olympics Welsh female taekwondo practitioners Welsh Olympic medallists World Taekwondo Championships medalists Youth Olympic gold medalists for Great Britain 21st-century British women

Career history

Personal life

See also

References

External links