Jack Woolley claims silver for Ireland at European Games in Poland

SILVER STAR: Jack Woolley of Ireland before his Taekwando Men's 58kg gold medal final match against Adrian Vicente Yunta of Spain at the Krynica-Zdrój Arena during the European Games 2023 in Poland. Pic: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

It was an end and a beginning. For Jack Woolley, the silver medal he claimed at the European Games in Poland on Friday firmly shut the door on his under-performance at the recent World Championships, and opened a new one, with vast possibilities for the road ahead.

The Paris Olympics are now only 13 months away, and with his European silver in the 58kg category, the 24-year-old Taekwondo star announced himself again as a legitimate contender. It was that way two years ago, of course, Woolley’s Olympic dream unravelling after his first-round defeat in Tokyo, but he’s older now, wiser, technically better. But any competition that ends in defeat is not one to leave him fully satisfied.