Jade Louise Jones (born 21 March 1993) is a Welsh formertaekwondo athlete, who is now training as aboxer. As a Taekwondo competitor in the –57 kg category, she is a two-time Olympic gold medallist (2012,2016), a one-time world champion (2019), and a three-time European champion (2016,2018,2021). Jones also won two gold medals at theEuropean Games and ten gold medals inWorld Grand Prix events. In 2012, she won Great Britain's first ever taekwondo gold medal at an Olympic Games.
After first taking up taekwondo at age eight, Jones had a successful junior career, finishing with a silver medal at the 2010World Juniors Championships and a gold medal at the2010 Youth Olympics. She won her first senior title at the 2011 U.S. Open, and then won a silver medal at the seniorWorld Championships the same year. Jones became Olympic champion in2012, triumphing in the –57 kg category. In 2014, she won theWorld Grand Prix finals for the first time, and in 2015 she won gold at theEuropean Games. Jones becameEuropean champion for the first time in 2016, and she then successfully defended her Olympic title at the2016 Games.
Jones won the Grand Prix finals in both 2016 and 2017 and she became European champion for the second time in 2018. She claimed her first world title in 2019 and third European title in 2021. At the delayed2020 Summer Olympics, she was unable to win a record-breaking third taekwondo gold medal, exiting in the opening round. Jones won more titles in 2023, including at theEuropean Games, but later in the year she was provisionally suspended for failing to supply a urine sample to UK anti-doping officials, though she was later cleared of any wrongdoing. Jones returned to competition, but was eliminated in the first round at the2024 Summer Olympics. In March 2025, she announced that she was ending her taekwondo career, and would take up boxing instead.
Jones was born inBodelwyddan,Denbighshire, Wales.[3] She was introduced to taekwondo by her grandfather, Martin, who took her to a taster session at age eight. He wanted her to channel her energy productively and she tried swimming, football, badminton and athletics before choosing thecombat sport. She initially trained at Flint Pavilion Leisure Centre before her grandfather drove her toCardiff for training, after she was identified at national level.[4][5] Jones attended Flint High School, leaving aged 16 to take up taekwondo full-time. She then trained with the Manchester Aces before joiningBritish Taekwondo's elite training hub.[6]
Jones is nicknamed "The Headhunter" because of her preference to attempt high-scoring head shots over lower scoring body strikes.[1]
Jones won a bronze medal in the -53 kg category at the2010 European Championships inSaint Petersburg,[7] and a silver medal in theWorld Juniors Taekwondo Championships.[8] Then, with the help of her local community inFlint who raised £1600 for her expenses, she travelled toMexico to take part in qualifying for the inauguralSummer Youth Olympics.[5] There, she beat Than Thao Nguyen in the–55kg category final to become Great Britain's first gold medallist at the Games.[9][10] At the end of 2010, Jones was named theBBC Cymru Wales Junior Sportswoman of the Year.[11]
Jones won her first senior title at the U.S. Open inAustin, Texas in February 2011. She won gold in the −62 kg division having won bronze in the −57 kg competition the previous day.[12] She then reached the final of the German Open where she was defeated byAna Zaninovic.[13] At the2011 World Championships inGyeongju, Jones advanced to the final of the–57 kg event after beatingMarlène Harnois in the semi-finals. She ended the competition with the silver medal after losing the final toHou Yuzhuo in a sudden-death round.[14] In recognition of her progress, Jones was given the Bob Humphrys Award at the SportingWales Rising Star Awards.[15] In October, Jones won a gold medal at the British Open in Manchester by defeating Harnois in the final,[16] however she then lost to the same opponent in the semi-finals of the French Open.[17]
At the 2012 German Open inHamburg, Jones won a silver medal after losing to Yun Wang in the final.[18] In May, she won a bronze medal at theEuropean Championships inManchester, after being beaten byEdina Kotsis.[19] Jones was then selected to compete for Great Britain at the2012 Summer Olympics in the–57 kg weight category.[20] At the games, Jones beat the top seedTseng Li-Cheng in the semi-finals, having beatenMayu Hamada in the quarter-finals andDragana Gladović in her first bout. In the final, she beat Hou Yuzhuo 6–4 to become the first Briton to win an Olympic taekwondo gold medal. Jones described hearing thenational anthem at her medal ceremony as the best moment of her life.[6][21]
Jones commenced 2013 with a first round loss at the Trelleborg Open toMartina Zubcic,[22] but she bounced back in March with victory at the German Open, claiming a win over Daria Zhuravleva in the gold medal match.[23] She suffered disappointment in July, losing by a golden-point to Hamada at the2013 World Championships. With the scores tied at 2–2, their bout entered a sudden-death round and it was Hamada who landed the next strike. Her quarter-final exit left Jones "devastated".[24] At the end of the year, she competed in theWorld Grand Prix event in Manchester where she finished with a silver medal, after a defeat by Eva Calvo Gomez.[25] Reflecting back on 2013, Jones admitted that her defeat at the World Championships, coupled with a back injury, meant that she "wasn't enjoying it anymore", and that she didn't want to train. However, by the end of the year she revealed that she had refound her love for the sport.[26]
In May 2014, Jones won silver at theEuropean Championships inBaku. She led 9–6 againstEva Calvo Gomez but ended up losing the match 9–11.[27] The following month, she won the Swiss Open inLausanne by defeating Eva Calvo Gomez in the final.[28] In August, Jones won silver at theWorld Grand Prix series event inAstana, after she fell to a golden-point defeat against Eva Calvo Gomez.[29] In October, she reached another final in the World Grand Prix series, this time in Manchester, where she finished with silver after a defeat to Eva Calvo Gomez.[30] She then won the World Grand Prix finals for the first time with a 7–3 victory over world number one Eva Calvo Gomez inQuerétaro, which ended a run of defeats against her Spanish opponent.[31]
At the 2015 Swiss Open, Jones won a golden-point to seal a 10–9 victory againstNikita Glasnovic in the -57 kg final after she had earlier trailed 0–8.[32] Jones was caught up in controversy at the2015 World Championships in Russia. She was defeated 9–10 byKimia Alizadeh at the quarter-finals stage of the tournament, however the result was controversial as the electronic scoring system crashed during the bout. With the scores level at 9–9, Jones landed with a shot to the chest and Alizadeh scored on the counter. When the scoreboard reset, Jones score had not been added and she was eliminated from the competition.[33][34] The following month, she competed at theEuropean Games in Baku, where she triumphed 12–9 over Zaninovic to secure gold.[35] In August, Jones won silver at the first leg of theWorld Grand Prix series inMoscow, after a defeat against Alizadeh,[36] but the following month she was victorious at the next round of the series inSamsun. There, she claimed a 6–3 victory againstHuang Yun-wen to clinch gold.[37] Jones then won another gold at the next round in Manchester, triumphing 14–4 against Eva Calvo Gomez in the final.[38] She finished the World Grand Prix series with a bronze medal inMexico City.[39]
Jones won gold at the 2016 German Open in April after opponentIvett Gonda withdrew from the final with injury. The competition marked Jones own return from a knee injury which had caused her to miss several events.[40] In May, she becameEuropean champion for the first time, after claiming an 11–5 victory over Glasnovic inMontreux.[41][42]At the2016 Summer Olympics inRio de Janeiro, Jones won her second Olympic gold medal in the –57 kg division. She progressed to the final with victories overNaima Bakkal,Raheleh Asemani and Glasnovic, before overcoming Eva Calvo Gomez 16–7 in the final, to defend the title she had won four years previously.[43] In December, Jones won gold again, this time at theWorld Grand Prix in Baku. She whitewashedHedaya Malak 7–0 in the final.[44]
Jones took a break from Taekwando at the start of 2017, which included an appearance on reality TV showThe Jump. She returned in April at the President's Cup inAthens, where she claimed gold in the final against Ekaterina Kim. Jones stated that her break from the sport had given her the hunger to compete back.[45]At the2017 World Championships inMuju, her attempt to win a maiden World Championship ended with an 8–14 defeat in the semi-finals toLee Ah-reum, giving her a bronze medal instead.[46] Jones then competed in theWorld Grand Prix series. InRabat, she was defeated in the final byHatice Kübra İlgün,[47] but she went one better at the next leg of the series inLondon, triumphing over Lee Ah-reum 31–14 to secure gold.[48] She then won gold again at the World Grand Prix finals inCôte d'Ivoire, where she overcame Eva Calvo Gomez 26–7. Jones ended the year as world number one.[49]
Jones began 2018 with a quarter-finals defeat toİrem Yaman at the Grand Slam series in China.[50] Jones then retained herEuropean title with a golden-point victory over Kübra İlgün inKazan.[51] In June, Jones claimed victory in theWorld Grand Prix series event inRome, triumphing overMarta Calvo Gomez 14–12 in the final.[52] She won a further gold in October, at the World Grand Prix event in Manchester, beatingZhou Lijun 11–4 in the final.[53]
Jones became world champion for the first time at the2019 World Championships in Manchester. She overcame Lee Ah-reum, the defending champion, 14–7 in the final. Jones admitted she was "desperate" to win the title and said her focus would now be on winning a third consecutive Olympic gold medal, stating "I want to be a legend and no-one has ever won three Olympics in a row, so that's the target."[54]
In February 2020, Jones suffered a knee ligament injury at the President's Cup inSweden, which forced her to withdraw from the final.[55] In April 2021, Jones becameEuropean champion for the third time after triumphing over Kübra İlgün 20–5 inSofia.[56] Jones then competed at the delayed2020 Olympic Games inTokyo, bidding to become the first competitor to win three Olympic taekwondo gold medals. She was drawn to face Alizadeh in the opening round, and Jones was eliminated, losing 12–16. Reflecting on her loss, Jones said the absence of her family (due to Covid restrictions) had affected her confidence, explaining "Usually I have my whole family there so when I am scared when I come out, them cheering gives me that extra push to go for it. I got trapped in that fear mode today."[57][58]
In February 2022, Jones won gold at the President's Cup inAlbania. There, she defeated Glasnovic in what was Jones' first competition since her early exit at the Olympics.[59] At theEuropean Championships in Manchester, she finished with a bronze medal after a semi-finals defeat toPatrycja Adamkiewicz.[60] Jones claimed two silver medals during theWorld Grand Prix series. In Rome, she lost 10–25 toLuo Zongshi,[61] and in Manchester she also finished runner-up after she was again beaten by Luo.[62] Jones won a bronze medal at theWorld Championships in Guadalajara after she suffered another defeat to Luo, this time in the semi-finals.[63]
At the2023 World Championships, Jones exited in the quarter-finals after a defeat toLo Chia-ling in Baku.[64] However, she then won gold at theEuropean Games in June, after overcomingLuana Marton 2–0 inKrakow.[65] At theWorld Grand Prix series event in Rome, Jones claimed the gold medal after defeating reigning world championNahid Kiyanichandeh.[66] In the next round of the series inParis, Jones clinched another gold with a 2–0 victory over Luo.[67]
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 her on the "very exceptional circumstances."[68][69]
Jones finished with silver at the2024 European Championships inBelgrade.[70] She then travelled to Paris for the2024 Summer Olympics, where she again attempted to become the first person to win three taekwando gold medals.[71][72] She was unsuccessful, losing toMiljana Reljiḱ in her opening bout.[73][74] Afterwards, Jones reflected "I came out today, I froze", and added "I'm just gutted that I didn't show what I'm capable of, what me and the coaches worked so hard to show."[75]
On 7 March 2025, Jones announced that she was quitting taekwondo, to take upboxing. She started training with former boxerStephen Smith, and admitted that her family thought her decision was "crazy". She said that she was "dreaming big" and that it was her goal to become a two-sport world champion.[76]
After Jones won gold at the2012 Summer Olympics, a post box in her hometown of Flint was painted gold to recognize her success.[77] Her victory at the Olympics was also commemorated on a stamp released by theRoyal Mail; one of a set featuring British gold medallists from the 2012 Games.[78] In addition, Flint Pavilion Leisure Centre, where she first took up taekwondo, was renamed the Jade Jones Pavilion Flint.[79]
Jones won the public vote for theBBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year 2012.[80] She was appointedMember of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the2013 New Year Honours for services to taekwondo[81][82] andOfficer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the2020 New Year Honours for services to taekwondo and sport.[83][84]
During theCOVID-19 lockdown in England, she lived with her friend and fellow Olympic taekwondo competitorBianca Walkden. They converted their garage into a gym and trained together.[4]
In 2017, Jones appeared on the winter sports reality TV showThe Jump. This was against the wishes of both her coach Paul Green, and British Taekwondo, who were concerned that the show might be dangerous.[85] She then appeared on series four ofCelebs Go Dating, which was broadcast in 2018.[86] In 2022, Jones took part in the TV seriesSAS: Who Dares Wins.[87]
In August 2024, it was reported that Jones was in a relationship with former taekwondo athlete Jordan Gayle.[88]
| |
|
|
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
