Two-time Olympic champion Jade Jones crashes OUT of her opening taekwondo round of 16 tie – three years on from Team GB star’s first-round defeat in Tokyo

Team GB’s Jade Jones faced elimination in the round of 16 during the women’s taekwondo 57kg division, competing for an extraordinary third consecutive gold after her victories in London and Rio.

In a tense match, the 31-year-old lost the first round to North Macedonia’s Miljana Reljikj with a close score of 7-6, following a timely head kick just before time was up.

Jones made a strong comeback in the second round, narrowly winning 5-4.

In the scrappy third and final round, the British athlete fought hard but faced heartbreak once again in Paris, echoing her early exit in Tokyo three years prior, as a 1-1 draw led to the referee awarding the victory to Reljikj.

Her place on the British Olympic team was controversial after she was provisionally suspended by the UK Anti-Doping Agency earlier this year for refusing to provide a urine sample to drug testers in December 2023.

Jade Jones was knocked out of the women’s 57kg taekwondo event in her opening round.

The Team GB star was eager to become the first athlete to win three gold medals in taekwondo.

Miljana Reljikj kept the pressure on Jones and managed to secure the win.

Jones, who tested negative later that day, avoided further repercussions after an investigation determined she ‘bore no fault or negligence’ regarding her failure to provide a sample.

The UK Anti-Doping Agency concluded that they were satisfied with the 31-year-old’s situation, citing ‘very exceptional circumstances’ based on confidential medical records, with her lawyer asserting she experienced a ‘loss of cognitive capacity’ during the sample collection request.

There remains a possibility for Jones to return to contention for a bronze medal through the repechage, depending on whether Reljikj advances to the finals, but she will have to endure a tense wait.