She did so after turning what looked like imminent defeat into victory in the women's under-67 kilograms final, against Britain's Lauren Williams at the Makuhari Messe.

With just 13 seconds remaining, Jelić trailed by three points to an opponent who had disposed of the gold medal favourite, Rio 2016 bronze medallist Ruth Gbagbi of Ivory Coast.

The 23-year-old Croat landed a head kick - and then another - that dropped Williams to the mat. Despairingly, the Briton surged forward in the last three seconds in an effort to counter-attack. It was too late, the score remained at 25-22 and gold went to Jelić. The Croat had offered the most dramatic demonstration of how well she had learned a vital lesson from two years earlier.

At the first of the three World Taekwondo Grand Prix series meetings in 2019, in Rome, Jelić - who had not managed to score a single point in the first two rounds of the 67kg final against South Korea's Kim Jan-Di - turned a silver medal into gold in the last 10 seconds as she landed a spinning back kick followed by a front kick to win 8-3. 

"The fight is not over until it is done and the referee says so," Jelić said.

Two weeks before her moment of clarity in Rome, Jelić had lost by just one point to Brazil’s Milena Titoneli in the last 16 of the World Championships in Manchester.

Two weeks on, Jelić used that disappointment and frustration as motivation.

"You can lose everything in one second," she said, after recently moving from her family home in Knin to take up regular training in Split. 

"Never give up. Just keep trying. 

"I feel amazing because two weeks ago I lost at the World Championships. So I can say I didn't give up and now I look forward to future matches.

"I think what was missing at the World Championships was my self-belief. Here I trust myself and my coach and the people around me."

That self-belief certainly shone in Tokyo.

Reflecting after her 2019 win in Rome upon her early career, the tactically astute Jelić, who stands at six foot tall, said: "I was in taekwondo since I was a kid. 

"From the start it wasn't so serious but later I wanted to do more and more. I was watching Grand Prix meetings on my laptop and was hoping to get here. 

"Now I'm here I'm very grateful and happy.

"But I want to put dreams in front of me so I can try to reach them. So maybe my next dream is to go to an Olympic Games and win a medal."

Fast forward two years - and the dream came true.