Jade Jones not planning to end taekwondo career before winning world title
By Andy Charles
Last Updated: 19/08/16 10:29pm
Dual Olympic Games gold medallist Jade Jones has no intention of calling time on her taekwondo career before succeeding in her quest to become world champion.
Jones successfully defended her -57kg title in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday, beating Spain's Eva Calvo Gomez in the final to retain the title she had won as a 19-year-old at London 2012.
The Welsh star suffered with motivational issues after winning her gold at such a young age, and she has consistently come up short at World Championship events since.
A scoring error cost her the chance of a world title last year in the Russian city of Chelyabinsk and Jones says there is still unfinished business for her in the sport that will keep her career going.
Jones said: "I want to be world champion. The Olympics is the pinnacle but I want that world title before I retire so I have got them both.
"I love to train. You have to find something you are good at and go for it. Taekwondo is my thing, so I want to give it my all.
"Being only 19 and winning the biggest thing I ever wanted to win was quite hard to take. I struggled with a bit of motivation and handling the pressure but a champion performs under pressure.
"I've learned to relax. I used to get really tense and wanted to win too much. I know I've done the hard work in the gym, so now I just relax and just let things take their course.
"The road to this was so much harder. I've had people chasing me for this spot plus I have had to cope with the pressure of coming in as reigning champion.
"It's been a long four years but it's worth it when this happens. I'll have a nice break and I'm sure I'll be back in training before too long."
