BBC Cymru Wales Sports Personality of the Year 2019: Jade Jones profile

Jade Jones secured the first world title of her career with gold at the World Taekwondo Championships in May in Manchester.

A 14-7 victory over defending champion Lee Ah-reum was even sweeter for Jones, as she had lost to her South Korean -57kg rival in the semi-finals at the last World Championships in 2017.

Jones won back-to-back Olympic gold medals at London 2012 and Rio 2016, as well as European, Youth Olympic and Grand Prix golds but a world title had proved elusive, with her previous best a silver in her Championships debut in 2011.

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The 26-year-old from Flint controlled the final from the start in Manchester, extending a two-point advantage over Lee at the end of the first round into seven points at 10-3 at the end of the second.

Lee produced a stirring fightback in the final round to move within three points, but Jones retook the initiative to emerge the winner.

As well as her World Championships success, Jones also took gold at the Sofia Open and a silver at the Belgian Open.

Jade Jones is targeting a third successive Olympic taekwondo title at Tokyo 2020

Jones was introduced to taekwondo by her grandfather, Martin Foulkes, when she was eight and he continued to support the developing youngster through training commitments and tournaments.

She announced herself on the international stage in 2010 by taking bronze at the Junior World Championships in Mexico and then claimed gold at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Singapore.

Jones was also already mixing it with opponents at senior level and took bronze at that year's European Championships in Russia.

Her achievements were recognised in the BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year ceremony with the Carwyn James Junior Sportswoman of the Year award.

A first senior title followed in 2011 as Jones won the US Open -62kg title while also taking bronze in the -57kg category, while -57kg silver followed at the German Open in Hamburg.

Jones' rise through the senior ranks was confirmed in May as the youngster from Flint won a silver medal at the World Championships in Gyeongju, South Korea.

Then in 2012 Jones reached the pinnacle of her sport at the London Olympics, as she overcame Chinese Taipei's top seed Tseng Li-Cheng in the semi-finals before being crowned champion, beating China's Yuzhuo Hou 6-4 in the final to take the women's -57kg title.

Jones' win was Great Britain's first Olympic gold in the sport - which was introduced to the Olympics in 2000 - and avenged her defeat to the Chinese fighter in the 2011 World Championships final.

In 2014 Jones won the World Grand Prix title by beating world number one Eva Calvo Gomez of Spain.

The following year Jones suffered disappointment at the 2015 World Championships, when she was eliminated in the quarter-finals amid controversy when the electronic scoring system froze.

But she bounced back to secure gold for Great Britain at the inaugural European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan, by beating Croatia's Ana Zaninovic 12-9.

Jones began 2016 troubled by a knee injury, but proved her health by winning the German Open in Hamburg in April and then the European Championships in Montreux, Switzerland, the following month.

Confident in her form and fitness, Jones headed to Rio 2016 and won a thrilling final in emphatic style 16-7 against Gomez, becoming the first Welsh woman to defend an Olympic title.

Jones added two more titles the following year at the 2017 Grand Prix in London and the Grand Prix Final in Abidjan, the Ivory Coast, yet a world title continued to elude her as she had to settle for bronze at the World Championships in Muju, South Korea.

She defended her European title at the 2018 Games in Kazan, Russia, and also triumphed in the Grand Prix events held on home soil in Manchester and in Rome, Italy.

After finally adding a world title in 2019, Jones now has her sights set on retaining her Olympic crown at Tokyo 2020, with no British woman having won three successive Olympic titles.

Voting for BBC Cymru Wales Sports Personality of the Year 2019 opened at 07:30 GMT on Monday, 2 December and closed at 18:00 GMT on Sunday, 8 December.

Full voting terms and conditions are available on the BBC website here and will also be carried on radio and television.

The winner will be unveiled on Tuesday, 10 December.

This event is not connected with the UK Sports Personality of the Year and is for the Wales award only.