Jones claims gold

Jade Jones (r) en route to her opening victory

Teenage Welsh fighter Jade Jones made history by becoming Britain's first Olympic taekwondo champion.

The 19-year-old, from Flint, North Wales, claimed a gold medal at the ExCel Centre in east London after beating China's Yuzhuo Hou 6-4 in the women's 57kg final.

The teenager, whose grandfather Martin Foulkes got her to start the sport aged eight to keep her off the streets, was given rapturous applause after she claimed the prize.

Jones threw her helmet in the air and did a lap of honour carrying the Union Flag after the final bell.

Earlier today she pulled off a shock victory over the world number one Tseng Li-Cheng of Chinese Taipei to earn a place in the final.

The crowd chanted "GB" and waved a sea of Union Flags at the jubilant teenager.

Amazing

"It's amazing," said Jones. "The crowd has just been amazing. Before I came out I was thinking that she took my World Championship final. That killed me for ages.

"So I wasn't going to let her beat me here in front of a home crowd. To be the first British athlete to win an Olympic gold (in taekwondo) is just amazing."

Jones had earlier stunned world number one Tseng Li-Cheng of Chinese Taipei 10-6 in their women's under-57kg featherweights semi-final at ExCeL.

Jones, 19, produced a late rally to land her trademark headkick which capped a quite remarkable Olympic debut.

South Arena 1 was in full voice as the 19-year-old from Flintshire walked out to a sea of Union Flags as 'London Calling' blasted over the airwaves.

The Wales teenager, world silver medallist in 2011, had opened her Olympic debut with an impressive 15-1 victory over Serbian Dragana Gladovi and dispatched Japan's Mayu Hamada 13-3 in the last eight for a shot at the final.

Class

Tseng, however, represented a step up in class.

The world number one scored an early point with a shot to the body and picked off the Briton again to lead 2-0 after the first round.

To her credit, Jones - Youth Olympic champion two years ago - upped the tempo after the restart, and reduced the deficit with a sidekick.

A penalty saw Jones drop 3-2 behind and she then had an appeal for a head shot tuned down by video review.

Spurred on by the home support, Jones then went 5-3 ahead, with the Chinese Taipei fighter then having an appeal for a head kick rejected.

That forced Tseng to attack, which played right into Jones' tactics as she this time connected to the head and pulled off a shock victory as the British crowd erupted.