Jade Jones defends -57kg Olympic taekwondo title in Rio
By Andy Charles
Last Updated: 19/08/16 12:15pm
Jade Jones won Team GB's 22nd Olympic Games gold in Rio by defending her -57kg taekwondo title.
The London 2012 champion beat Spain's Eva Calvo Gomez 16-7 in the final after cruising through the rounds with a series of commanding displays.
Jones beat Morocco's Naima Bakkal in her first bout and secured a place in the semi-finals with a 7-2 win over Belgium's Raheleh Asemani.
She had a tougher clash with Sweden's Nikita Glasnovic in the last-four but came out on top 9-4 thanks to a superb head kick, with Calvo Gomez beating Egypt's Hedaya Wahba on a golden point to secure her place in the final.
Jones connected with a pair of head shots in the opening round to lead 6-0 but Calvo Gomez rallied in the second with a head shot of her own, cutting the deficit to 7-6 with two minutes remaining.
But she was ragged in the final round, consistently leaving herself open to attack, with Jones taking full advantage on a couple more head shots before victory was confirmed.
"It feels unbelievable, I can't really explain it," Jones said.
"I didn't realise how much pressure I would feel coming into this - even in the first few matches I just felt so pressured - so to pull it off... my coach is a psycho and it's all down to him. The Great British team train so hard.
"I'm still young. I'm only 23 and I'm a double Olympic champion already so it's crazy.
"Before the competition I've been crying in the sessions and you just can't see it happening because you're so stressed and training all the time.
"But I did it when it mattered and I'm buzzing."
