Jade JONES

In February 2011, she claimed her first international senior title at the US Open. That was in the 62kg division having won bronze at 57kg the previous day. At her first World Championships in Gyeongju, Republic of Korea that May, Jones won silver after a narrow final defeat to Hou Yuzhou of People's Republic of China.

A British Open success in October helped build anticipation for her Olympic debut in London. And despite only collecting bronze at the European Championships in Manchester three months before the Games, Jones was seen as a genuine gold medal prospect.

She did not disappoint. Seeded fourth, Jones cruised through her opening matches before outpointing Chinese Taipei's top seed Tseng Li-Cheng in the semi-finals. Hou awaited in the final, but this time the Briton prevailed 6-4 to become Olympic champion.

After winning European Games gold in 2015 and claiming her first European title in 2016, Jones went to Rio to defend her Olympic title. She was even more impressive than she had been in London, despatching her opponents with ease before comprehensively beating Spain's Eva Calvo 16-7 in the final to win gold again.

After retaining her European crown in 2018, Jones finally secured a world title on home soil in Manchester in 2019. After a break caused by the pandemic, she completed a hat-trick of European triumphs in Sofia ahead of her Olympic defence.

Things did not go to plan at Tokyo 2020 as Jones was beaten in her opening contest by Rio bronze medallist Kimia Alizadeh, competing for the Olympic Refugee Team having previously represented Iran.

A fourth consecutive European title proved elusive in 2022 as Jones could only take bronze in Manchester. Another bronze followed at the World Championships in Guadalajara, Mexico as she went out to China's eventual gold medallist Luo Zhongshi.

After falling in the quarter-finals of last May's World Championships in Azerbaijan, Jones returned to winning ways at the 2023 European Games and followed that up with victories at the Rome and Paris Grand Prix events.

Croatia's Nika Karabatic denied Jones a fourth European title in May, but the Welshwoman is certainly among the favourites in Paris as she bids to makes more taekwondo history.