Triple gold hopeful Jade Jones loses in the first round
Jade Jones OBE was set to be a superstar of the Olympics. As a previous two-time gold medal champion, Jones was reportedly hoping to make it a consecutive trifecta. However, Jones’ Tokyo campaign came to a quick and disappointing close when she lost the Taekwondo 57kg class starting match to refugee team member Kimia Zenoorin.
Jones had been introduced to taekwondo by her grandfather at the age of eight. He hoped she could use it for self-defence, but Jones took it one step further and became a multi-medal winning world champion. Securing gold medals across the Olympics, Grand Prix, European Championships, and the world championships, Jones is an example of British excellence. She was given an MBE in 2013, which was upgraded to OBE in 2020.
Focused and ready to go, game time tomorrow 🔥
Set your alarms, we start at 3:52am (🇬🇧🕰)@TeamGB @Tokyo2020 #FightingforGold pic.twitter.com/t79usC9l3y
— Jade Jones (@jadejonestkd) July 24, 2021
Reports say that Jones began the match with the lead, but a kick to Jones’ trunk put her behind the Iranian medal holder. Jones unsuccessfully appealed against a two-point penalty call and unfortunately lost the match 16-11.
Reports say that fellow teammate Bianca Walkden was just as upset as Jones, leaving the arena in tears. Jones won Gold in 2012’s London Games, and would then go on to secure another win in Rio 2016. Sadly, the best Jones will be able to manage in Tokyo is a bronze.
Bedtime out here in 🇯🇵 but I hope everyone enjoys “Jade Jones: Fighting for Gold” tonight 😊 Catch it at 8:30pm on @bbcone in Wales or on @bbciplayer across the UK 📺
Has been one hell of a ride, thanks for coming on it with me… we ain’t done yet 💪 #FightingforGold pic.twitter.com/VjUSnyQnLz
— Jade Jones (@jadejonestkd) July 20, 2021
In 2016, Kimia Alizadeh Zenoorin was the first Iranian female athlete to win a medal.
“I am very pleased to get this first medal -very pleased! – and very pleased for the girls of Iran,” she said back in 2016. “I had tears in my eyes from joy, but I also had a little thought: ‘I would love this to have been gold.”
“When I came here I wanted to break this enclosure, open the door, help other female athletes and also create a kind of self-confidence for people to go out there and do it.”
