Jack Woolley can go all the way and medal at the Paris Olympics. He also knows that his Games could be over after one fight. Ireland's Taekwondo pioneer experienced the bitter taste of a first round defeat in Tokyo.
He had been just moments from victory. Woolley's outpouring of emotion after losing in Tokyo was striking, but that was then. He has grown up.
READ MORE: Daniel Wiffen: Sun had to go down on doper Yang's world record READ MORE: Love, life, loss and taekwondo - Jack Woolley's remarkable Olympic journey "I’ve been able to grow and mature as an athlete and a person, to overcome these moments where things might not go to plan," he said. "Hopefully no-one sees me crying on the telly anymore, because I’m sick of that." His first contest at the beautiful Grand Palais venue takes place on Wednesday at 10.
58am. Woolley is the seventh seed and goes up against Gashim Magomedov of Azerbaijan, who is ranked 10th. If the Tallaght man wins at the end of the three rounds then he is into the quarter-finals and is nine rounds from the gold medal.
The prospect of a long, historic day beckons if he can negotiate that first hurdle. "It’s very open. There are only 16 athletes in my division, and I’ve fought the majority of them, if not all of them.
The Olympic champion is the Italian boy, who I fought last year and I beat him, but he’s also beaten me. "The Spanish boy, I beat him and he beat me, France..
.like, everybody has fought each other and everybody beats each other. So.