09/08/2012
The crowd chanted “GB” and waved a sea of Union Flags at the jubilant teenager.
After the bout, on being told she was Great Britain's first ever
taekwondo Olympic champion, the excited youngster joked: "I could get
used to hearing that.
"To be the first British athlete to win a gold is amazing but to win it in the UK is something else. Also having my family here with me has made it extra special and I know all my friends back home have been cheering me on and putting posters in their windows. I want to thank them all."
London:Welsh teenage taekwondo star Jade Jones has won an Olympic gold medal
after beating world champion Hou Yuzhou, of China 6-2 in the final.
The 19-year-old from Rhyl, North Wales, ran around the ExCel arena
with a red dragon flag in one hand and a union flag in the other after
beating the odds to claim the crown she craved.
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,
leading to a whirlwind of excitement across Wales.
In her hometown, fans and well wishers packed out the social club to
celebrate as she held off the talented Asian to end round one level at
0-0 and then as she racked up the points in the second round, they could
hear the roar in London.
Then in the final round, leading 2-0, a head shot quickly saw Wales'
youngest ever gold medalist in an unassailable 6-2 lead. She then
easily closed the contest out to win 6-4 before the celebrations began.The crowd chanted “GB” and waved a sea of Union Flags at the jubilant teenager.
"To be the first British athlete to win a gold is amazing but to win it in the UK is something else. Also having my family here with me has made it extra special and I know all my friends back home have been cheering me on and putting posters in their windows. I want to thank them all."
After claiming her medal, Jade said: "It was amazing to win and it
still feels crazy holding my gold medals. I had watched other athletes
winning them for most of the last two weeks and I wanted one for myself.
Now to have one around my neck is the best feeling in the world.
"All the people who have supported me here and at home have been
amazing and winning the gold for them is the cherry on the cake.
"At the moment taekwondo is a low profile sport in Britain and hopefully I have done something to change that.
"Now I am looking forward to a bit of time off and then I will be ready to bring on Rio in 2016.
"I want to say a big thank you to my coach Paul Green. He is a
legend. He has pushed me so hard. Even when I have been tired or crying,
he has still supported me."
After his protege's amazing win, Mr Green said: "Jade has all the
attributes of the best male taekwondo stars and she has been amazing
today. But she is still really young and there are plenty of things we
can work on in the next cycle, which should make the next Olympcis in
Rio really exciting.
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