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European Games 2023: Great Britain's Jade Jones wins women's 57kg taekwondo gold

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Great Britain's Jade Jones during a matchImage source, Getty Images
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Jade Jones has won her second European Games gold, eight years after her first

Team GB's two-time Olympic taekwondo champion Jade Jones clinched women's 57kg gold at the European Games.

Jones, 30, beat Hungary's Luana Marton 2-0 in the gold medal contest to win Great Britain's fourth gold in Poland.

Team-mate Bradly Sinden won men's 63kg silver after he was forced to withdraw from the final because of an injury.

There was also gold for archers Bryony Pitman, Penny Healey and Jaspreet Sagoo, with the trio beating France 5-1 in the women's recurve team final.

Team GB is competing across 18 Olympic sports at the multi-disciplinary European Games, with qualification for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on the line in 10.

Speaking after her victory, Jones, who suffered an early exit in her bid for a third straight Olympic title in 2021, said: "It's obviously been a long journey. Everyone knows it's hard to stay on top.

"I'm getting older. People don't understand how hard sport is, the rollercoaster of it. But I got gold so it's just amazing. A couple of members of my family are here, too, which is the icing on the cake."

In taekwondo, Olympic ranking points are available in Poland.

Pitman became the first Team GB athlete to defend a European Games title by following up her success alongside Sarah Bettles and Naomi Folkard at Minsk 2019.

"To come out here and win it again with a new team is amazing," said Pitman. "I think it shows the new talent that we have in the UK and it's an incredible feeling."

Artistic swimmers Ranjuo Tomblin - who on Thursday became Great Britain's first senior male artistic swimmer - and Beatrice Crass claimed their second medals of the Games with bronze in the mixed duet free competition.

The pair scored 163.9688 points to finish behind winners Spain and runners-up Italy - two days after they finished third in the mixed duet technical bronze.

Also in the pool, childhood friends Kate Shortman and Isabelle Thorpe won bronze in the duet free with a score of 223.5084.

That total left the British pair 32.5251 short of the winning total set by Austria's Anna-Maria Alexandri and Eirini Marina Alexandri, while Ukraine won silver.

Meanwhile, diver Ross Haslam topped qualifying in the men's 3m springboard but finished fourth in the final, posting a total score of 403.35 points after his six dives, while team-mate Matthew Dixon finished sixth (401.05).

In sport climbing, Briton Dayan Akhtar topped the standings in the men's boulder semi-finals before Sunday's six-man final.

Saturday's results leave GB sixth in the medal table, with four golds and a total of 14 medals.

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