Two-time taekwondo champion Jade Jones says she made a mistake by failing to provide a doping sample

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PARIS (AP) — Two-time Olympic champion Jade Jones of Britain admitted Thursday she “made a mistake” when she failed to submit herself to an out-of-competition doping test last year.

The taekwondo athlete was cleared by the British anti-doping agency and was allowed to compete at the Paris Olympics.

Jones was eliminated from the 57-kilogram category on Thursday, losing her opening bout to Miljana Reljikj of North Macedonia.

UK Anti-Doping said last month that Jones violated the rules after “refusing or failing to submit to sample collection” but found that she ”bore no fault or negligence.”

After testers showed up at a Manchester hotel where she resided, Jones told them she was unable to provide a sample because she needed to go for a dehydration bath ahead of a weigh-in. She provided a sample later that day and it returned negative.

“I made a mistake,” Jones said after her Olympic loss. “They came on dehydration day, I wasn’t in the right mind. I was lucky they looked into it and it all got sorted and proven I was innocent.”

Jones became the first British athlete to win a gold medal in Olympic taekwondo at the 2012 London Games and defended her title four years later in Rio de Janeiro.

“I can confirm that I’ve never taken drugs,” Jones said. “I’ve done hundreds of tests and since then I’ve done 13 more tests, more than ever.”

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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games