Jade Jones (taekwondo)

Jade Jones
MBE

Jones (blue) at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Personal information
Nickname(s) The Headhunter[1]
Nationality British
Born 21 March 1993
Bodelwyddan, Wales, United Kingdom
Residence Flint, Wales, United Kingdom
Height 1.7 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight 57 kg (126 lb)
Sport
Country  United Kingdom
Sport Taekwondo
Event(s) –57 kg
Club GB Academy
Team GBR
Turned pro 2010
Coached by Paul Green
Updated on 8 August 2012.

Jade Mary Elizabeth Jones MBE (born 21 March 1993) is a British taekwondo athlete who represented Team GB at the 2012 Summer Olympics, winning Britain's first taekwondo gold medal, in the women's 57 kg category.[2] Jones is 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, Denbighshire, Wales.[3][4] She attended Flint High School leaving aged 16 to take up taekwondo full-time.[5] As of 2012, Jones is 1.69 metres (5 ft 7 in) tall and weighs 57 kilograms (126 lb).[4] 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.[6] 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 ever gold medallist at the Games.[7][8] She was named BBC Cymru Wales Junior Sportswoman of the Year 2010.[9]

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.[10] 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 semifinals. She won the silver medal after losing to China's Hou Yuzhuo in a sudden-death round.[11] In October 2011 Jones won a gold medal at the British Open in Manchester by defeating Harnois 10–8 in the final.[12] At the French Open she won a bronze medal after losing to Harnois in the semifinals.[13]

At the German Open held in Hamburg in March 2012 Jones won a silver medal losing to China's Yun Wang in the final.[14][15] In May 2012 she won a bronze medal at the 2012 European Taekwondo Championships in Manchester.[16]

Jones was selected to compete for Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the women's 57 kg weight category.[17] 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.[18] In the final on 9 August 2012 she beat Hou Yuzhuo of China 6 points to 4, to become the first ever Briton to win a taekwondo gold medal.[19]

Jones won the public vote for the BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year 2012.[20]

She is nicknamed "The Headhunter" because she prefers to try and 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][21]

Jones was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to taekwondo.[22][23]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Kay,Alex (10 August 2012). "Jade's the jewel in Great Britain's golden crown as Jones becomes youngest champ". www.dailymail.co.uk. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  2. ↑ "Jade Jones gives Britain first taekwondo gold". Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  3. ↑ "Jade Jones: Taekwondo gold medal joy for Olympian" BBC News Wales, 10 August 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2012
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Jade Jones: Team GB". British Olympic Association. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  5. ↑ "Teenage kicks! Ecstatic Jade Jones takes Britain's first ever Taekwondo gold". www.standard.co.uk. 9 August 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
  6. ↑ Griffiths, Gareth (4 June 2012). "Jade Jones going for gold medal at 2012 Olympics". Wales Online. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  7. ↑ "Jade Jones wins Britain's first Youth Olympics gold". BBC Sport. 17 August 2010. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  8. ↑ Williams, Bob (23 December 2010). "Jade Jones named British Olympic Association taekwondo athlete of the year". The Telegraph. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  9. ↑ Williams, Bob (7 December 2010). "Jade Jones wins BBC Cymru Wales Junior Sportswoman of the Year 2010". The Telegraph. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  10. ↑ Hope, Nick (21 February 2011). "Youth Olympian Jade Jones claims first senior title". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  11. ↑ Hope, Nick (4 May 2011). "Jade Jones wins World Championship silver medal". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  12. ↑ Hope, Nick (1 October 2011). "Triple gold medal for GB at British Open". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  13. ↑ "Jade Jones takes taekwondo bronze at French Open". BBC Sport. 12 December 2011. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  14. ↑ Hope, Nick (5 March 2012). "London 2012: Damon Sansum wins taekwondo gold in Germany". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  15. ↑ "Taekwondo: Jade Jones claims silver in German Open". www.walesonline.co.uk. 4 March 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  16. ↑ "Taekwondo: Jade Jones bags bronze in European Championships". Wales Online. 6 May 2012. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  17. ↑ "London 2012: Sarah Stevenson leads GB taekwondo team". BBC Sport. 1 June 2012. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  18. ↑ "Wales' Jade Jones to bid for taekwondo gold at London 2012". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  19. ↑ "Jade Jones wins Olympic taekwondo gold for Great Britain". BBC Sport. 9 August 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
  20. ↑ "Welsh Sports Personality of the Year 2012: Jade Jones triumphs". bbc.co.uk. 10 December 2012. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  21. ↑ "Jade Jones celebrates Olympic Taekwondo gold". bbc.co.uk. 10 August 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  22. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 60367. p. 25. 29 December 2012.
  23. ↑ "2013 New Year's Honours" (PDF). Retrieved 29 December 2012.

External links