After 9 months out of the competitive ring, Ireland’s Jack Wooley made a return to the taekwondo octagon in Bosnia & Herzegovina participating in the final event of the year the European Championships Olympic Weight Categories.
The event which was run under strict Covid-19 protocols saw many of Europe’s elite gather in what was to be an event very similar to the upcoming European Qualification tournament for Tokyo 2021, with exception of the top 2 seeds who have already qualified, including Woolley.
Seeded 2 in the -58kg division, Jack had a preliminary bye and went into the round of 16 against Bulgarian Daniel Ladzhev who Woolley defeated 30-5. The quarter finals against Serbian Dmitrij Nagajev finished 22-9 in favour of the Taekwondo Ireland athlete.
A semi final clash with French fighter Cyrian Ravet proved to be the conclusion to Jacks 2020 with the scoreline of 19-13 in favour of France who went onto secure the gold. Jack clinched his fourth European medal in Sarajevo bringing a conclusion to a year which has been testing for sportspeople in many ways.
The event which had no ranking points available due to a pause in the ranking system due to the global pandemic was attended without points in mind, but with productive ring time against some of Europe’s elite firmly the objective. With three podiums in his last 3 events including golds in USA & Bulgaria Jack signs off 2020 looking forward to 2021 and his preparations to compete at the Tokyo Olympics.
