Double champion Jones in another early Olympics loss

Jade Jones’ bid for Olympic history is over after another early defeat in the taekwondo -57kg first round in Paris.

The 31-year-old Briton was bidding to become the first three-time Olympic champion in the sport’s history.

She was beaten at the same stage in Tokyo three years ago – which she later described as the “biggest low” of her career.

On Thursday, Jones lost the first round of the best-of-three tie to Macedonia’s Miljana Reljikj, narrowly won the second and drew the third.

That led to the number of registered hits being used as a tie-breaker, with Reljikj coming out on top.

Jones could still fight for bronze later in the repechage should Reljikj reach the finals at the Grand Palais.

The Briton was cleared to compete in Paris after being found to have committed a no-fault doping violation on confidential medical grounds.

Jones was provisionally suspended by the UK Anti-Doping Agency (Ukad) after she failed to provide a urine sample to officials who arrived at her hotel in Manchester on 1 December 2023.

Ukad said it had been presented with confidential medical records that showed Jones bore “no fault or negligence for her refusal or failure to submit to her sample collection”.

Jones, who tested negative later that day after providing a sample to a separate tester, says she made a “mistake” by not providing the sample at the first time of asking.

Earlier on Thursday, Britain’s Bradly Sinden registered a quick victory in the men’s -68kg.

Sinden, aiming to become the first British man to win Olympic gold in the sport, beat Kevin Kassman of Papua New Guinea 2-0.