Jade Jones talks to Supplement Judge

We were lucky enough to speak to Jade Jones, Team GB’s first Olympic Taekwondo Gold Medallist.

It must have been a whirlwind few weeks for you. Many athletes have spoken about the ‘post-Olympic blues’. Is it starting to sink in that the Olympics have been and gone, and that you’re a gold medallist?

I haven’t really had time for it to all sink in or think about it to get the ‘post-Olympic blues’ and I still can’t believe I’m Olympic Champion.

What have you been up to since the Games ended? Have you had much time to rest?

There has been a lot of media attention and I have been travelling about all over the country. I had thought about things before and wondered what would happen if I won a gold and thought there would be more attention but I did not realise how much. But it has all been amazing.

You’ve spoken about the spectator support, and you also received a huge amount of support back home. Your town has also done a lot of fundraising for you in the past and now they’re renaming Flint Leisure Centre after you – how has it felt to be very much in the spotlight and have that support – did it help win you the gold?

Yes definitely my family have been amazing through all of it. Everyone is so much behind me and none of them ever put pressure on me, they were just so proud of me being there never mind winning gold.

And did winning that gold medal fight mean even more as you were up against Tseng?

Yeh Tseng Li-Cheng is an amazing athlete but I think maybe beating Hou Yuzhuo motivated me more since she beat me at last year’s world championships. I remember I was distraught after she did and so remember walking into the fight and thinking she took my world title but she’s not going to take this in front of the home crowd

How about the support of the team around you – there was lots of talk about the ‘controversial’ team choice when Team GB was announced, naming Lutalo in the team. This thrust Taekwondo in the spotlight – was there any extra pressure as a team because of that? Do you think it brought you all together or where you already a very tight-knit team?

We had a bit of extra pressure going in to the games, but we put everything behind us and concentrated on the task at hand. As athletes we just continued training and ignored the politics and media and we were all full of support for Lutalo who did great.

What’s been the best (and/or craziest!) thing about being an Olympic champion so far?

Maybe a few things, getting a Jaguar car was pretty cool and doing a Hello photo shoot with my mum. I was asked to lie across a cooker for that which was quite weird. Or maybe having Dizzy Rascal come up to me casually the other day and asked for a photo that was pretty cool.

What was life like in the Olympic village?

It was strange because I could see all the amazing things happening in the Olympic village but before I competed I didn’t want to try them out because I wanted to keep my mind focused. But as soon as I won I allowed myself to have a look around and had my hair and makeup done in the salon.

You were Team GB’s youngest gold medallist at the Games, it must feel great to know that you’ve already got one gold medal and so many other potential Games ahead of you?

Absolutely, I think winning gold was amazing but to be the youngest one and to make history as the first-ever taekwondo gold for Great Britain was amazing. But I want to do the same again in Rio and win another gold. I think people seem to peak in taekwondo is early 20s and I still have a lot to achieve.
But you have spoken about taking a break and not going back to competition until next year. Achieving a gold at the Olympics is a pinnacle for many athletes – is it hard to motivate yourself to continue when you’ve achieved something as incredible as that at such a young age? Or do you just need a break?!

Well I haven’t decided yet when I will go back to training and I will return when I am mentally hungry again. I think it’s important to train only when you’re hungry otherwise you lose motivation. But I have missed training and I thought I would be chuffed to be missing all the hard work but I have already got a bit bored and had the guilt of feeling unfit. The plan though is to compete in Mexico at the world championships next year and when I start back at training I know I’ll train hard and not rest on my laurels.

What is the rest of the year likely to hold for you?

I honestly haven’t thought it through that much. At the moment I’m looking forward to spending some time with friends and family and then going on holiday with my mum to chill out.

Team GB’s female athletes were incredibly successful at the Games, do you think your own success and that of the other British female medal winners will inspire young girls and teenagers to get involved with sport?

It was amazing how Team GB performed and I know it motivated me, I was sitting there waiting to compete thinking I want to get involved and try and contribute. So hopefully it will  

Taekwondo was a reasonably low profile sport in Britain before London 2012 – do you think and hope that there will be more of an interest in the sport now that people have witnessed your success and have you as a role model?

Already I have heard more people are getting involved in the sport and people have been Tweeting me their experiences which is amazing. It’s also crazy to think some people might think of me as a role model but also very flattering. Again it’s not had time to sink in..