Out Olympian Jack Woolley is back on the medal platform just three months after being attacked in his hometown of Dublin.
Woolley, who competed for Ireland in taekwondo at the Tokyo Summer Olympics, recently won gold at the the Bosnia and Herzegovina Open. The 22-year-old returned to action in October, winning gold at the Albanian Open as well.
“Happy with my performances today but as always we have some things to work on in training,” Woolley posted on Instagram. “Some really good tests both physically and mentally, so I’m delighted to have come out on top.”
Woolley says his next competition is next week before he takes a “well-earned break for Christmas.”
Woolley came out at 16 and was a legitimate medal favorite in Tokyo. Before the Olympics, he proudly told an Irish website he “kicks people in the head for a living.”
Last August, Woolley was sent to the hospital after falling victim to a seeming random attack on the streets of Dublin — after he had flown home from Tokyo. He underwent lip reconstruction surgery.
Sky Sports reports the group of people who assaulted Woolley attacked other pedestrians along Dublin’s Grattan Bridge early that Sunday morning.
“Unfortunately I was victim to these random attacks as I was just walking bye before I was punched in the face by one of these group members,” Woolley wrote on Instagram. “Only one punch and followed by “my mistake wrong person” then they continued to run off down the road attacking more civilians minding their own business.”
Woolley’s injuries appeared to be severe, though he told fans in an Instagram his predicament “looked worse” than it was.
Either way, Woolley was beaten up pretty badly. It’s great to see him back on his feet (literally in this case) and performing at the highest level in his sport.
You can follow Jack Woolley on Instagram here.
