BIANCA Walkden’s dream of gold came to an agonising end as she missed out on a place in the final after a split-second twist in the fight.

Walkden began her bid for an elusive first Olympic gold medal in Tokyo’s Makuhari Hall with a comfortable victory in the quarter-finals of the +67kg taekwondo category.

The three-time world champion eased past Cansel Deniz of Kazakhstan with a 17-7 to book a semi-final meeting with South Korea’s Dabin Lee.

The Liverpudlian athlete looked to have clinched victory when an infraction by the Korean put Walkden two points up with three seconds to go.

But in a repeat of Lutalo Muhammad’s shock gold medal loss in Rio in 2016, Walkden was left in despair when Lee delivered a three-point head kick to snatch a 25-24 win.

She will fight for the bronze medal, it has confirmed by Team GB officials.

The whole way through her fights, the 29-year-old was spurred on from the side-lines by housemate, teammate and close friend – Jade Jones.

Jade, born and raised in Flint, also suffered from defeat in Tokyo last weekend.

READ MORE: Community support pours in for Flint's Golden Girl despite Olympic heartache

An unexpected defeat in the early rounds of Sunday’s taekwondo match-ups cost her the chance to go down in history as the first British female to win gold medals at three consecutive Olympics.

Denbighshire Free Press:

However, the community support in Flint – and around the country – hasn't stopped pouring in to support the iconic athlete.

On Monday, the two-time gold medalist took to social media reflecting on her performance and added that her sporting story wasn't over just yet.