Jade Jones Hopes to Use London 2012 to Repair World Championship Heartbreak

Returning from the Singapore youth Olympics in 2010 decorated in gold, taekwondo prospect Jade Jones had achieved something unprecedented in the history of British sport with victory in a pulsating final. Jones made history in becoming Britain’s first ever Youth Olympic gold medalist.

Following a silver at the Youth World Championships and that remarkable Youth Olympic gold, Jones took to the senior European Championships whilst still competing as a junior. Once again, Jones exceeded expectations by securing a bronze, before undertaking the biggest challenge of her career to date.

At the senior Taekwondo World Championships in Gyeongju, the 18-year-old Flint fighter recovered from 6-2 down against Marlenee Harnois in the semi-finals to draw level at 7-7. The familiar pressures of a sudden-death climax favoured Jones, who managed to clinch victory and set up a final with Yuzhuo Hou of China.

Jones led 5-4 with just moments remaining, but her evasive opponent managed to force the British featherweight into yet another sudden-death situation. Typically offensive, Jones countered a roundhouse with a left kick to the gut of her opponent, but the judges deemed the hit too forceless to register. An opportunistic Hou countered by sliding her leg underneath Jones’ to land the winning shot; within a period of no longer than 3 seconds, Jones is left with her head in her hands.

“If only I had blocked,” Jones laments, though her reactions now come five months late.

“I did everything I could - I knew she was good and I went out and did my best but on the day it wasn't good enough.”

Jones’ success at the World Championships – albeit discolored by that bitter final defeat – embodies wider success for Team GB in recent years. A record medal haul at the Gyeongju Indoor Stadium sparked understandable questions regarding what exactly had prompted such unprecedented standards in British taekwondo.

“It is an up-and-coming sport in Great Britain now,” Jones eagerly explains. “Everyone will be watching when it comes to London, but we have already proved as a team that we are up there. All of us are excited to see what we can do.”

Foundational shifts in the way British taekwondo operated helped to pave the way for a new coaching structure, with improvements to training facilities riding the steady flow of increased funding pumped into the sport.

Experts in the sport cited the introduction of Professor Won Jae Moon; a Korean coach boasting a resume that included no fewer than 27 world champions and six Olympic gold medallists. Professor Moon joined an increasing legion of foreign imports acquired by Team GB in the pursuit of medal success for when we play hosts at London 2012 – at least 21 of the 26 sports participated in at the Olympics will include performance directors or senior coaches who have been expensively headhunted.

From Biz Price, the Canadian synchronised swimming svengali, to Jurgen Grobler, the German behind the success of British rowing, British sport once again revisits a tradition of cherry-picking the best foreign coaching talent with the acquisition of Moon. The Korean quite literally wrote the book on taekwondo; he is the co-author of the official World Federation manual ‘The Book of Teaching and Learning Taekwondo’.

“We have a lot more funding coming through now,” Jones explains, alluding to a financial boost gifted to the discipline by UK Sport’s World Class Performance Programme. “The coaches have got better and we have everything we need now.”

Everything needed by an elite taekwondo fighter now includes comprehensive psychological support for a discipline that can be as demanding mentally as it is physically. The literal translation of taekwondo is “the way to break with foot or fist”; though no exchange proved more painful for Jones than the emotional damage caused by her failure in the final of the World Championships.

“We have a psychologist that I work with, making sure I’m mentally focused and have my mind right. Obviously it’s good to chill out on the weekends so you aren’t always thinking about taekwondo. Sometimes you do have to switch off.”

With the impending Olympic Games in London now less than a year away, the tendency to allow dreams of athletic success to dominate everyday life is almost inevitable. Conceivably, Jones could be an Olympic gold medallist at the age of 19; her rapid technical development has undeniably left her with physiological disadvantages, often pitching her against rivals more advanced in age and experience. Importantly, however, Jones reveals that “not giving the seniors too much respect” was a fundamental part of her transition into the seniors.

“It’s been hard because all the girls are more experienced but I can only get bigger and better so it’s looking good.”

Gary Hall – performance director of the British Olympic Taekwondo team – explains how Jones has done a “phenomenal job from juniors through to seniors with very little break.”

“She's a phenomenal talent," Hall insists. "She is a natural fighter. Some of that is about her upbringing in Wales. It's a tougher lifestyle where she has come from, and she has that natural fight in her and that is her key strength.”

The softly-spoken girl from Wales coyly reveals herself to be “a nervous person”, seemingly contrasting Hall’s assessment of her nature, though such hesitancy evaporates as she steps into the taekwondo ring. Fellow Team GB fighter Sarah Stevenson recently described Jones as an ‘animal’, citing her grit and perseverance as a vital to her express development.

“I like to think I’m a bit of an animal,” Jones jovially concurs. “I’ll go straight at them and won’t give up. I’m 100% determined so I supposed you could say that. I think that I’ll keep that forever, because that attitude is what works for me.

“I am quite a nervous person, but it seems to make me better. When the pressure gets to me, trust me, that is when I am at my best.”

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