Two-time gold-medallist faces anxious wait to see if she can fight for bronze, while journalists hope for clarity on her missed drugs test
Tom Morgan, Sports News Correspondent, Paris
8 August 2024 • 2:12pm
Jones was edged out on the countback rule Credit: Getty Images/Alex Pantling Jade Jones’ medal hopes are hanging by a thread after she was beaten in her opening bout in the -57kg taekwondo competition.
A narrow defeat by Miljana Reljikj of North Macedonia means her gold-medal prospects have evaporated, and she now faces an anxious wait to find out whether she can enter a repechage, should Reljikj progress to the final, and attempt to go for a bronze medal.
It also remains uncertain whether the Briton will address the controversy around her at these Games — an escaped ban for failing to submit to a drug test in December last year.
The UK Anti-Doping Agency ruled that she bore “no fault or negligence for the missed test” because of a “loss of cognitive capacity” but she has yet to answer any questions from journalists. Team GB want her to address the issue, but cannot compel Jones to speak, unlike in other competitions.
Jade Jones lost at the same stage in Tokyo three years ago Credit: Sportsfile via Getty Images/Stephen McCarthy Veteran Olympian Jones, the 2012 and 2016 gold medallist, lost her opening round 7-6 before fighting back to win the second. With the third round locked at 1-1 after time had run out, Reljikj won on a countback of overall number of hits.
Missed-test mysteryThese Games come after UK Anti-Doping (Ukad) had only published the outcome of Jones’ missed test case on the agency’s website without sending out an accompanying media release.
The violation — a refusal to take a drugs test — took place in December and there are understood to be mitigating factors although Jones has never explained what they are.
She escaped a four-year ban because a national anti-doping panel accepted that she had suffered a “loss of cognitive capacity”, with the panel concluding she bore “no fault or negligence”. The investigation found the test was due to take place while Jones was attempting to shed weight — and she claimed she had not eaten or had a drink for two days prior to the knock on her door. She also said she was about to leave for a dehydration bath, rendering her even more incapable of providing the doping control officer (DCO) with a urine sample.
It remains to be seen whether she will finally address the issue later on Thursday on what is certain to be her last day in the full limelight at an Olympics.
License this content