Britain's Jade Jones wins first taekwondo gold

LONDON - Great Britain's Jade Jones took revenge for her World Championship final defeat last year by beating Hou Yuzhuo of China for Olympic under-57kg gold on Thursday.

In a tactical final the teenager from Wales triumphed 6-4 to win Britain's first Olympic taekwondo title.

France's sixth seed Marlene Harnois took a bronze medal with a 12-8 victory over Mayu Hamada of Japan.

Top seed Tseng Li-Cheng of Taiwan took the other bronze medal with a dominant victory over Suvi Mikkonen of Finland by superiority, 14-2.

"It feels crazy. It's amazing and the crowd's amazing," said 19-year-old Jones.

"Before I came out I thought, I'm not letting her beat me here in front of the home crowd. To be the first athlete to win Olympic gold is amazing."

Jones never went for anything too spectacular in the bout, contenting herself with a controlled and disciplined performance.

And she kept the score ticking over with single kicks to the body and a pair of penalties from Hou.

After no scores in the first round, Hou was penalised in the second and Jones added another point with a kick.

From there on, she never let Hou, twice a world champion, close the two-point gap.

(AFP)