Olympic champion Jones quits taekwondo for boxing

Wales' double Olympic taekwondo champion Jade Jones is switching sports and has taken up boxing.

The 31-year-old says she is "dreaming big" as she intends to become a two sport world champion.

Jones has been boxing for two months and is training with former professional boxer Stephen Smith in a move she thinks is unprecedented as she eyes a career in the paid ranks.

"It is nerve-wracking. Some days I wake up and think 'am I absolutely crazy?'" Jones told BBC Breakfast.

"I am loving it. I love taekwondo, it will always be my first love. But this is an exciting challenge. I've only been doing it for two months."

Jones' switch is sure to raise eyebrows, having competed for two decades in a sport where kicking your opponent is the name of the game and Jones admits her decision did come out of the blue.

"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," she said.

"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."

Jones admits she has faced a huge culture shock as she has learned about the "sweet science" of boxing.

"Boxing is arguably the hardest sport in the world, but I am up for the challenge, I want to give it a go," she said.

"Technique is the hardest thing to learn. There are so many little factors to it. I started wading in, but it's all about timing and being patient.

"I've learned straight away it's not like being Rocky, you can't just get in there and blast away.

"I've come in thinking I'm hardcore and a can have a scrap, but it's the total opposite to be honest, it's kind of like taekwondo in that it's a game of chess, but with your hands."

One of Wales' most successful Olympians, Jones admits there is a degree of sadness at giving up taekwondo, having represented Team GB at four Olympics and having won two gold medals, as well as winning a World Championship.

Jones became the youngest Team GB Olympic gold medallist when she sensationally won gold at her first attempt, as a 19-year-old at the 2012 London Games and held onto her crown four years later in Rio de Janeiro.

Disappointment followed at the 2020 Tokyo Games which she later described as the "biggest low" of her career.

At Paris 2024, Jones' bid for Olympic history ended in early defeat in the taekwondo -57kg first round.

She was bidding to become the first three-time Olympic champion in the sport's history and defeat left Jones "devastated".

Jones lost to Macedonia's Miljana Reljikj on the number of registered hits, used as a tie-breaker after three even rounds.

Jones has now chosen to step away from the sport she loves.

"My family have been a little bit sad about me giving up taekwondo," she added.

"I've never used my hands. After 20 years of using my feet I am switching it up.

"Boxing is good for me. It started as a distraction but now I am going to go for it, because I am just loving it."

Jones' trainer Smith, who twice boxed for a world title, admits he was initially sceptical about Jones' boxing ambitions.

"My first instinct was why? Why would someone who kicks with both feet get into a sport where you use your hands," he said.

"I wasn't doubting her, but I was confused.

"I don't think it's ever happened before, I don't know anyone who has come over from taekwondo.

"It's a massive challenge but it is made easier by her attitude... she's improving all the time."