WALES' Jade Jones won Britain's first ever taekwondo gold when she beat Yuzhuo Hou of China in the women's under-57kgs final at ExCeL the ExCel Arena in London.

Wales now have won three gold medals, equalling their tally from Beijing in 2008.

Jones, 19, who had beaten world number one Tseng Li-Cheng of Chinese Taipei 10-6 in the semi-final, endured a nervy start to the final but built a steady lead, thanks in part to mistakes from her opponent resulting in penalties.

However, the fighter, who lost to Hou in last year's World Championship final, soon exerted her full dominance to stretch out a four-point lead going into the final seconds and eventually closed out a 6-4 win to send the home crowd into ecstasy.

The opening against Hou was tense, as each fighter tested their range during a scoreless first two minutes.

A low blow from the Chinese fighter accrued a second penalty which resulted in a point for Jones towards the end of the second round, and another shot to the body on the buzzer made it 2-0.

The Briton continued to go on the offensive and opened up a 5-1 lead heading into the final 30 seconds, closing out a stunning 6-4 victory. Jones' gold eclipses the bronze won four years ago in Beijing by Sarah Stevenson, who fights on Friday.

Jones told BBC2: "It's amazing. The crowd has just been amazing. Before I came out I was thinking that she took my World Championship final. That killed me for ages.

"So I wasn't going to let her beat me here in front of a home crowd. To be the first British athlete to win an Olympic gold (in taekwondo) is just amazing."