'I was petrified' - Jade Jones says anxiety led to taekwondo Tokyo 2020 Olympics disappointment

Two-time Olympic taekwondo champion Jade Jones says she «wasn't in a good place” at the Tokyo Games last summer after “struggling with anxiety” during lockdown. Jones, 29, was bidding to win a third gold medal but lost her first fight to Refugee Team competitor Kimia Alizadeh. Ad/> She has revealed that the build-up to the Games and the impact of Covid-19 did play a part in her performance.

/> Tokyo 2020'She's a champion' — GB's Walkden wins bronze after semi-final agony27/07/2021 AT 15:31 »I didn't realise how much lockdown affected me," she told BBC Sport Wales. «I haven't really spoken about it because it's not the kind of thing I do. But I was struggling with a lot of anxiety in lockdown and had never really experienced that before.

»I was petrified to go near my family, thinking I was going to pass on this deadly thing — like everybody was. I was over-thinking everything. That's where it started from.

Rutherford: Jones put too much pressure on herself Jones beaten in first fight at Tokyo Games «On top of putting all that pressure on myself and being locked down as well. Then at the end of it, what normally helps is my family being there to cheer me on — whereas it was just totally different [in Tokyo]. »It was dead.

It didn't even feel like an Olympics. I just struggled to get into that zone mentally and in taekwondo, one little mess up in that two minutes and you're out. Your Games are over." Jones was victorious on her return to action at the President’s Cup in February.

She says she is going to give it her “best” to win a third gold at Paris 2024. «I've learnt so many lessons. One of those is enjoying it again and not putting too much expectation on everything.