LAST UPDATE | 4 Oct 2021
IRELAND’S JACK WOOLLEY marked his first competition since the Tokyo Olympics with a gold medal, winning the Albanian Open.
Woolley took gold after beating Cyrian Ravet of France in the 58kg class final in Tirana.
Woolley had received a bye in the round of 32, before overcoming Herwan Onanga of France in the round of 16 and Germany’s Hueseyin Canan in the quarter-finals.
Woolley then beat Sweden’s Frederik Olsen in the semi-finals to book his place in Sunday’s final.
The Albanian Open was Woolley’s first competitive outing since Tokyo, with his gold medal finish also securing 10 World Ranking Points and 10 Olympic Ranking Points for the Dubliner.
Albania Open 2021 🥇
— Jack Woolley (@jackwoolley_tkd) October 4, 2021
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R32 BYE 🏳
R16 vs 🇫🇷 (24-2)
QF vs 🇩🇪 (27-7)
SF vs 🇸🇪 (8-4)
F vs 🇫🇷 (7-3)
It’s been a very tough few months so to bring home a gold in my first G1 back since all the madness means a lot to me! Thank you to @roberttaaffe @southdubtkd for coaching me today! pic.twitter.com/O7sXfHAkub
The 23-year-old has endured a difficult couple of months. Ireland’s first taekwondo Olympian entered the Tokyo Games as a medal hope before being beaten in his round of 16 fight.
He was then the victim of a violent assault in Dublin shortly after his return from the Olympics, with an unprovoked attack in August leaving him requiring lip reconstruction surgery.
“It’s been a very tough few months so to bring home a gold in my first G1 back since all the madness means a lot to me!” Woolley wrote on Twitter.
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