Olympic Golden Girl wins the public vote. 10 December 2012

Taekwondo star Jade Jones has been named as the BBC Cymru Wales Sports Personality of the Year 2012.

The 19-year-old from Flint in north Wales won the public vote, with rugby union back-row Dan Lydiate in second place and cyclist Geraint Thomas third.

Jones battled through to win gold at the London 2012 Olympic Games, beating Yuzhuo Hou 6-4 to take the women’s -57kg title.

“It’s a great honour - I can’t believe I have won,” said Jones.

“There were so many great people I was up against and the fact that the public got to vote ... it’s such a great honour that people recognised what I have done.”

Her win was Great Britain’s first Olympic gold in the sport.

The victory was also a personal triumph for Jones, who avenged her defeat to the Chinese fighter in the 2011 World Championships final.

Jones was introduced to taekwondo by her grandfather, Martin Foulkes, when she was eight and he continued to support the developing youngster through training commitments and tournaments.