Great Britain's Jade Jones has revealed her desire to become a "legend" in taekwondo, having added a European Games gold medal to her Olympic success from three years ago.
Jones followed in the footsteps of teammate Charlie Maddock in clinching the top prize in Baku today, beating Croatian Ana Zaninovic 12-9 in the final of the women's -57kg category to create another slice of history.
The 22-year-old suffered a number of scares en route to the final, notably coming from two points behind in the final round of her quarter-final bout, and almost blowing a commanding lead in her semi.
In the final itself, the Brit quickly raced into a 5-0 lead, only to squander that advantage and allow Zaninovic back into the fight before eventually picking up the historic win.
After her triumph, she spoke to Sports Mole to warn her rivals that there is "more to come" from her as she goes in search of legendary status.
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Congratulations Jade, another piece of history! How are you feeling right now?
"I'm just buzzing to be honest. I got the Youth Olympic Games, the senior Olympic Games, so to get the European Games as well, all three at such a young age, that's just amazing."
It was a topsy-turvy final. How would you assess your performance?
"To be honest, all through the day I haven't fought my best. I scraped through a couple of fights, but I'm just chuffed I managed to get through and I felt like I fought a lot better in the final."
What was going through your mind first when you took a five-point lead and then when you let Zaninovic back into it?
"To be honest, it panics you a bit, because you're in control and then 5-3 it's close again and anyone can win so you just try to stay focused and just continue doing the tactics and don't make the same mistake again."
There were nervy moments in the quarter-final too, when you went into the final round 2-0 down before eventually coming through 5-2. Was that just a case of biding your time and waiting for the perfect moment to strike?
"Yeah, my coach kept shouting at me saying I was only doing 60% with my kicks, so I just went in that round thinking 'right, I've got to go 100%'."
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It's two golds for the girls now with world champion Bianca Walkden still to come. Lutalo Muhammad and Mahama Cho have still got to go for the boys - is there mounting pressure on them to get off the mark in the team?
"Yeah definitely, I think they'll be feeling the pressure now!"
You have the Olympic and European titles under your belt now. How close are you to being the finished article?
"Yeah I've still got a bit of work to do. I'm European champion, but I want to become a legend in my sport so I'm not done yet."
We asked Charlie the same question after her triumph yesterday - what is more important to you, the medal or the 40 Olympic ranking points that go with it?
"In this competition, the medal definitely. I wasn't really thinking of the ranking points to be honest."
Team GB will look to keep up their taekwondo gold rush tomorrow when Muhammad competes in the men's -80kg event.
Barney Corkhill
