Defending Olympic taekwondo champion Jade Jones keeps title

After her victory, Jones brought her coach onto the mat to celebrate before the two posed for pictures with the flags of Britain and Wales.

But Jones – who breezed through her earlier three fights in the competition – refused to panic and extended her lead with more stunning combinations to seal her second Olympic triumph and Great Britain’s 22nd gold medal of Rio 2016 so far.

Jones lost her world number one ranking to the Spaniard, and two early defeats signalled a shift in power in the women’s featherweight division.

“She is in a better place than she was in London”.

Two head kicks in the third round sealed victory for Jones – who has now won both GB’s taekwondo golds since its introduction as a medal sport in 2000.

The Welsh fighter beat Naima Bakkal of Morocco 12-4 in last 16 of the -57kg category.

Jones, who took gold at the European Games in Baku previous year, then beat Nikita Glasnovic of Sweden 9-4 to seal her place in tonight’s final.

Jones connected with a pair of head shots in the opening round to lead 6-0 but Calvo Gomez rallied in the second with a head shot of her own, cutting the deficit to 7-6 with two minutes remaining.

Jones will now face a last eight tie against Iranian born refugee Raheleh Asemani – who is part of team Belgium in Rio – at around 7.30pm BST.

“It feels unbelievable”, Jones told BBC Sport afterwards.

“I’m still young so to be double Olympic champion already is insane to be honest”, She told BBC Sport.

“But I did it when it mattered and I’m buzzing”.