Jade Jones won Olympic gold in taekwondo at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics but now the Team GB star has her sights set on more glory after a career change in her 30s
Former Olympic champion Jade Jones(Image: Jade Jones/ Instagram)
Former two-time Olympic champion Jade Jones isn’t just looking to make up the numbers after calling time on her taekwondo career to take up boxing. Jones, 32, won Olympic gold for Team GB in 2012 and 2016 and now has her sights set on becoming a world champion in a second sport.
The Welsh star’s hopes of a third gold medal at the Olympic Games were dashed when she suffered an early exit at the Paris games in 2024. She shared the news of her career change less than a year later and has made it clear she wants to go to the very top.
“It’s nice to have a fresh start,” Jones told The Smith Brothers. “It’s a new challenge. I wouldn’t be here to just get knocked out and get a bit of money.
“I want to take it step by step, one fight at a time, to kind of enjoy the journey again,” she added, hinting that the enjoyment wasn’t always there towards the end of her taekwondo career. “[I’m] definitely aiming to be world champion. I believe in myself, I believe in the ability and I’ll just take each fight at a time and see.”
She added: “I do just generally love a scrap as well, I think that’s what people don’t get. They’re like ‘do you not want to keep your face?’ but I love to fight, I love to scrap, it’s fun to me.”
During a decorated taekwondo career, Jones beat Hou Yuzhuo to win gold in the 57kg category at the 2012 Olympics in London and defended her title against Eva Calvo in Rio de Janeiro four years later. She also won gold at the 2019 World Championships, held in Manchester.
Jones with her second Olympic gold medal in Rio de Janeiro in 2016(Image: PA)
She was backed up on the YouTube show by Stephen Smith, with whom she began boxing training at the start of 2025. Her latest comments follow an interview with BBC Breakfast last year in which she admitted to the moments of doubt she has felt since making the switch.
“It is nerve-wracking. Some days I wake up and think ‘am I absolutely crazy?'” she said. “I am loving it. I love taekwondo, it will always be my first love. But this is an exciting challenge.
“I don’t know what gave me the idea, I was sat in my kitchen and thought ‘I’ll try boxing’, my family all think I’m crazy, but people who know me know it is inside me, I love to have a fight and a scrap.
“People can follow my journey, the good, the bad and the ugly. Can I get to the top? Will I fail? The dream is to be a world champion. To be a world champion in two sports would be pretty cool.”
Sky Sports discounted Premier League and EFL package
This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more
£49
£35
Sky
Sky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle for the 2025/26 season, saving members £336 and offering more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.
Sky will show at least 215 live Premier League games this season, an increase of up to 100 more.