IRELAND’S FIRST TAEKWONDO Olympian Jack Woolley lost in the most agonising way possible overnight – to a last-second kick.
His opponent Lucas Lautaro Guzman from Argentina edged through — not without controversy — leaving the Dubliner distraught.
“It’s tough to take and it will be,” an emotional Woolley told RTÉ’s Paul O’Flynn afterwards. “I’m after having a while to try and make myself not get upset but some people come here to participate at an Olympics, I came here to win it and I could have – just don’t perform like that.
“Devastated with my performance. Everything was perfect; mentally great, physically great. I stepped on the mat, it wasn’t my day but sure things happen. That’s all really.
He continued: “I wasn’t happy with my performance at all. We had this gameplan and I went out and my legs just went to jelly and it didn’t go to plan. I’m usually a lot more aggressive, something just didn’t click and I’m upset with how it went.
It means the best the Dubliner can now do is a bronze medal in the 58kg event should Guzman progress further – though Woolley’s not expecting that to play out.
“I think if he gets into the final,” he says. “I’ll be ready to go but realistically I don’t think that’s going to happen. But you never know, no one expected me lose so he could get to the final. Fingers crossed but I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
