TAEKWONDO’S golden girl Jade Jones started dreaming of Olympic glory at the age of 16.
Still only 19, the young athlete from Flint, North Wales, fought her way to a gold medal in the -57kg division against world champion Hou Yuzhuo.
It was something she declared she wanted three years ago, when she stated: “I want to go to the next Olympics and go all the way.”
The small town girl first took up the martial art when she was only eight years old, after her grandfather decided Jones needed to learn how to protect herself.
The name fits ... the "head hunter" lands a blow to the head
Jade said: “It was my granddad who wanted me to learn how to defend myself and keep me off the streets, and then I just started winning everything.”
By 16 she was nominated in the Junior Sportswoman category in the Flintshire Sports Personality of the Year awards, and in 2010 – after showing early success in regional and national competitions – was invited to train in Manchester among GB’s elite.
Winning a gold medal at the World Youth Olympics in Singapore in 2010 and a silver medal at the World Championships in Korea last year cemented Jones’s place in Team GB for London’s Games.
Future champion ... Jade at the age of nine
Andrew Price / Rex
But the champion – nicknamed the “head hunter” – remains a down-to-Earth Welsh girl from the small town on the River Dee.
Her head teacher from Flint High School, Pam McLean, said of Jones: “She is very much a local girl.
“She is a hero, but in the nicest possible way. She is just so modest and that’s what’s so special about her.”
Sheer delight ... Jade celebrates a win
Jade is also a regular visitor at Tony Lovatt and Son Butchers on Chester Street, where her mum Jayne Ferguson has worked for two years.
Tae-d together ... Jade embraces her coach, Paul Green
Owner Tony Lovatt joked: “I think her mum has been more nervous than Jade.
“When she’s home she often pops in to surprise her mum.
“She’s just a lovely natural girl and it’s just marvellous what she’s achieved.”
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