Greg Rutherford says Jade Jones is a "complete star" of Team GB despite her first-round knock out in Tokyo 2020

ByNiamh Lewis

Updated 25/07/2021 at 15:26 GMT

Jade Jones says her shock first-round taekwondo defeat was down to putting too much pressure on herself and the lack of family support in Tokyo 2020. But Greg Rutherford said she is still a "star of Team GB" as she aimed to become the first GB athlete to go for three gold medals. Watch every unmissable moment live from Tokyo 2020 across Eurosport, Eurosport app and discovery+

Greg Rutherford said Jade Jones put too much pressure on herself and is a "complete star" of Team GB despite her shock first-round taekwondo defeat on Sunday.

Jones, who is a double Olympic gold medallist, was defeated by Rio bronze medallist Kimia Alizadeh of the Refugee Olympic Team.

Olympic gold medallist and Eurosport pundit Rutherford said: "She's clearly put a bit too much pressure on herself there and it's really difficult not to. She's a complete star of Team GB she has had a fantastic couple of games and she's been having a difficult time.

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"We've been saying it from the get-go that certain athletes are going to react differently to different scenarios and clearly for Jade this hasn't worked out but she's a top quality athlete and an absolute legend within the world of Team GB, so I hope she can come away from this and not feel too down.

"It is heart-rending of course but she has to remember that there's a lot of people looking up to her that she is a complete star and she's had a fantastic career so we'll see where she goes from this."

Jones suffers shock defeat, Walkden left in tears

Jones said not having her family there to support contributed to the early defeat. "I just felt like I put too much pressure on myself going into it and I really did feel it, more than I expected on the day," Jones said. "Not having my family there to kind of push me out of that fear zone really did affect me and I'm just gutted that I couldn't do more.

"For me, I do love a crowd, and I do love my family being there so it was a struggle and I did miss them being there. I call them 'Team Crazy' - the ones that have been to every Olympics," she added.

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