Looking good for Jade Jones ahead of Olympics after gold medal win at European Championships

Flintshire’s Jade Jones the reigning British Olympic Taekwondo champion won her first European Championships title on Friday at the European Taekwondo Championships in Montreux.

The 23-year-old beat Sweden’s Nikita Glasnovic in the -57kg final to claim gold in Switzerland.

Her opponent proved unable to recover from a trademark opening burst from “the Headhunter”, who moved 6-0 ahead after a superb headshot at the beginning of the second period.

It marked the 23-year-old’s first European title after bronze in 2010 and 2012 followed by silver in 2014, although she did win gold at last year’s European Games in Baku.

For Jade Jones, winning the gold medal at Montreux 2016 was a lifelong dream, especially since this particular event is the final rehearsal of her participation in the Rio Olympics.

Jade said:

“The road to Rio has been harder than it was to London. So, to tick this title off my list before getting there, I feel on top of the world.

I feel like this was mentally tougher than the European Games last year in Baku, I did not really know much about it but with this it’s something I’ve really wanted to win for a long time” Jones told BBC Sport.