Jade Jones finally added an elusive first world taekwondo title to her double Olympic gold with a 14-7 win over defending champion Lee Ah-reum in Manchester on Saturday night.
Jones, who had been defeated by Lee at the semi-final stage in Muju two years ago, defied a final-round fightback to claim a victory which underlines her status as one of the sport's all-time greats.
Jones told Press Association Sport: "There were times I doubted if I could ever do it and I can finally go to sleep at night knowing I am not going to finish my career without winning that world title.
"This is only going to increase my motivation to go on and make it three Olympic titles in a row. The pressure is off me now and I am hungrier than ever to go to Tokyo and win gold again."
The 26-year-old may have been forgiven for wondering if the world title would be the major title to elude her after a series of near-misses stretching back to her first World Championship in 2011.
But having scraped through to the final in less-than-convincing circumstances on Friday night, Jones made no mistake against her rival and controlled their contest from the start before celebrating in front of her ecstatic home fans.
Jones' victory erased the memories of those previous heartbreaks, starting in 2011 when, at the age of barely 18, she had to settle for a silver medal after losing a sudden-death final round to China's Hou Yuzhuo.
Jones fell short at the quarter-final stage in 2013 and two years later also went out in the last eight after a controversial loss to Iran's Kimia Alizadeh, when she was hindered by a crash in the electronic scoring system.
By 2017, Jones had a second consecutive Olympic title in the bag but continued to struggle on the world stage, where she had to settle for bronze after her 14-8 loss to Lee in Muju.
Two years later, Jones was intent on making up for her previous disappointments with victory on home soil, and no doubt suitably inspired by her friend and flatmate Bianca Walkden's third triumph on Friday night.
Jones' gold was Great Britain's third of the championships and the fourth medal in total.
