LAST WEEK, IRELAND’S first Taekwondo Olympian was fighting outdoors at a Grand Prix event in Rome.
The temperatures were hovering between 30 and 35 degrees. There was no escaping the warmth. Taekwondo is typically an indoor sport, but not always. And even in the remorseless heat, the competitors were still obliged to wear their full fighting kit and head gear.
For Woolley, this was one of four tournaments for him to work through in just a six-week window. The travel, the weight-making challenges and the training load are the perpetual burdens for athletes in combat sports to live with. Multiplying that by four in such a short stretch is all the more exhausting for Woolley, who fights in the 58kg class. And that’s before you add in the hot weather from last week.
“We just have to keep going,” Woolley tells The 42. “There’s no time to relax in this sport, it’s literally non-stop.”
He’s just a few days on from his trip to Italy and he’s already winding up for fourth and final event of that six-week period. On Tuesday, he will arrive in Poland for the European Athletics Team Championships and he’ll be in the ring on Friday for the start of his campaign.
“I have three European silver medals so there’s no reason why I can’t win the whole thing,” says Woolley, laying out his plans for the week ahead.
“Getting to the final and giving it an extra push to come away with the gold. I’ve actually never been a European champion and this is my time to do it.
“We leave for Poland on Tuesday and I fight on the Friday. All my fights are on the same day.
“We still have two Grand Prix, a Grand Prix final which are really important for Olympic qualification so we need to do well at them to qualify for Paris. We find out if we qualify in December. You need to be in the top six Olympic rankings. I’m currently number six but seven is very, very close and we’re chopping and changing constantly.
“Once I do well at those three competitions and the European Games, I should hopefully stay in the top six but Taekwondo is so unpredictable so you never know.”
🥇 Jack Woolley beats the current World and Olympic Champion on his way to Gold at the Spanish Open this week in Taekwondo 🥋
— Team Ireland (@TeamIreland) April 21, 2023
Congratulations Jack and team 🔥👏#TeamIreland | #ParisScholar pic.twitter.com/GCl4quUtoL
In the midst of what has been a busy time for Woolley so far, the Tallaght native has one particularly significant victory next to his name. In April, he defeated the reigning Olympic, World and European champion in a gold medal bout at the Spanish Open. The pair have fought twice before this, and it was third time lucky for Woolley.
“Taekwondo originates in Korea so Europe and Asia dominate the sport but Europeans usually stay in Europe and Asians stay in Asia. At the start of the year, a lot of mixing happened and a lot of competitions ended up being as tough as World Championships.
“You have Koreans over at the Belgian Open, so it was a pretty tough start to the year. It felt like competitions had gotten 10 times harder, so to come away from the Spanish Open with a gold medal was a nice little boost in confidence.
“That was my third time fighting him and this was the first time I beat him.”
The 12-month countdown to the Paris 2024 Olympics is looming fast, and Woolley knows the boxes he must tick to stamp his ticket to France. Should he qualify, it would be his second time competing at the Games after making his Olympic bow in 2021.
It was historic for both Woolley and Team Ireland as he became Ireland’s first Taekwondo athlete to appear at the Olympics at the age of just 22. His first fight didn’t materialise the way he wanted it to, losing out to Lucas Lautaro Guzman after a last-second trunk kick.
A devastated Woolley couldn’t contain the tears in his post-fight interview as his hopes of winning a gold medal had evaporated. In the two years that has passed since that heartbreak, Woolley has learned to make peace with his fate.
“I always think of it that I tried to get into Rio and I had to get a gold or silver at the European qualification event. I got a bronze. And that was really difficult to take but I made it to the next one. Everything might not have gone to plan but I thought the world was ending after Rio, and after Tokyo, again I thought the world was ending.
“I’ve dealt with that now and I know how to cope with it. All I can do is look ahead and keep training so I don’t make those same mistakes for Paris. It’s all about trying to receive the positives and negatives. There’s no point in dwelling, you can’t change the past. But I try to not think about Tokyo too much.”
Another plus to look forward to with next year’s Olympics is the absence of Covid-19 restrictions. The public is still advised to be cautious about the virus, but the worry about catching a cold won’t carry the same weight of distraction.
“That was a very draining, negative time after the Games. There was this whole build-up just to be told there were no spectators, no training partners and in my head, I still haven’t had that proper Olympic experience.
“I’ve gone to an Olympics and competed, but I’ve not been in that village environment, or had the big crowds. That’s what’s pushing me to get to the next one so I can say I’ve experienced it.”
Taekwondo is far from a mainstream sport in Ireland, but Woolley’s success and ongoing progress is gradually changing the narrative. Losing his first fight in Tokyo was not a low that Woolley envisioned for himself, but a moment of heartache for him was the light ahead for many children watching him on TV back in Ireland.
“After the Games, I had a lot of nice messages from people saying their kids want to get more involved. There was actually a waiting list to join my Taekwondo club in Tallaght. The interest is definitely there. It’s just trying to cater to that interest is quite difficult at the moment.
“I kind of waited a few days for the dust to settle but to get that reception at home was lovely.
“Even going over in the first place, we all got post cards and pictures and letters from kids wishing me the best of luck. I had them all taped to my wall in Tokyo so I knew the support was there. But I’m the type of person that is very hard on themselves, especially after a loss. So, I try to stay away from it because I knew my mood would dampen it down, but after a few days, it was nice to look back and pick me back up.
“The support over the last years shows me that my days aren’t numbered. It’s really good to have that.”
Certainly not. Let the busy times continue for Woolley.
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