London 2012: GOLD FOR BRITAIN! Jade Jones battles through pain to triumph

Friday, August 10, 2012
7:23 AM

Jones beat Hou Yuzhuo of China in the final

Jade Jones fought through the pain barrier to land Britain’s first taekwondo Olympic gold with a stunning victory over world champion Hou Yuzhuo of China in the women’s under-57kg final at ExCeL.

The Wales teenager - world silver medallist after being beaten by Hou in Korea last year - had opened her Olympic debut with an impressive 15-1 victory over Serbian Dragana Gladovic and dispatched Japan’s Mayu Hamada 13-3 in the last eight before a late rally of trademark headkicks beat world number one Tseng Li-Cheng of Chinese Taipei.

The 19-year-old from Flintshire showed no fear in the final tonight against the Chinese fighter, closing out a 6-4 victory as South Arena 1 erupted.

Jones - taken to a local club by her grandad aged eight - was not going to let anything get in the way of her Olympic dream.

“I hurt my foot in the very first fight, it was a kick to the shin, so I had an injection in it,” said Jones.

“At first, I was whinging and feeling sorry for myself, but I just had to deal with because I wanted to win.”

Jones, who won the Youth Olympic crown in Singapore two years ago, added: “I have been dreaming about this, not sleeping and crying in training.

“The last thing I thought before I went out was she took my world championship away from me, and she was not going to take this one in front of my home crowd.

“Four years ago, I watched Sarah [Stevenson] win a bronze medal on the tele, and ever since I have wanted to go to the Olympics.

“I have been getting up at six in the morning to do extra training with my coach, who has been amazing.

“It is just all overwhelming to have finally got it, which shows that dreams can come true.

“It was such an amazing experience and I am so glad my family were all here to see it.”