Flint’s Jade Jones set to compete in fourth Olympic Games

Double Olympic gold medallist Jade Jones will compete in her fourth Olympic Games for Team GB this summer, after being named by the British Olympic Association (BOA) as part of the taekwondo team of four that will travel to Paris.

The 31-year-old from Flint is set to equal Sarah Stevenson’s record of competing at four Olympic Games for Team GB in taekwondo, as she pursues an unprecedented third Olympic gold medal in Paris.

Jades’ Olympic journey began at London 2012, where she became Team GB’s first-ever Olympic taekwondo Champion at just 19 years old, before retaining her title four years later at Rio 2016.

Jade expressed her excitement about this milestone, saying, “This will be my fourth Olympic Games, fifth including the Youth Olympics. This one feels extra special, almost like the very first again when I was 19!”

“People don’t understand how hard it is to even qualify for an Olympics, so I am super proud and can’t wait to fight my heart out for GB and myself once again.”

Introduced to taekwondo by her grandfather at the age of eight, Jones left Flint High School at 16 to pursue the sport full-time.

She has since built a stellar career, including her Olympic gold medals, a world championship title in 2019, and multiple European championships.

She is also a two-time European Games gold medallist, making her the only athlete to achieve this feat in her weight category.

Jades’ nickname, “The Headhunter,” reflects her strategic preference for scoring points from her opponent’s head, a tactic that awards more points than body kicks.

Jade first made her mark internationally at the 2010 European Taekwondo Championships, winning a bronze medal.

That same year, she secured gold at the inaugural Summer Youth Olympics in Singapore, becoming Great Britain’s first gold medallist at the event. In 2011, she continued her winning streak with gold at the US Open and silver at the World Taekwondo Championships.

Her success continued into the 2012 London Olympics, where she defeated China’s Hou Yuzhuo to claim Great Britain’s first Olympic gold medal in taekwondo.

Despite a controversial loss at the 2015 World Taekwondo Championships, she bounced back to win gold again at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Jade faced a setback at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where she was knocked out in the first round, but she returned strong, securing a bronze medal at the 2022 World Taekwondo Championships in Guadalajara, Mexico.

[Photo: Team GB]