Bisexual Olympian Jack Woolley secures place at Paris 2024 Games
Ireland’s Jack Woolley will make his second Olympic appearance at Paris 2024. Getty)
Bisexual taekwando athlete Jack Woolley has secured his place at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The 24-year-old, who will again compete in the 58kg category, earned one of two of two European Quotas available at the European Olympic Qualification Tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Woolley, who made history at the 2020 Tokyo Games as Ireland’s first-ever Olympian in taekwondo, took to social media to celebrate the good news.
He captioned an Instagram post featuring a video and pictures of his success with the words: “Paris Olympic Games 2024 Qualified”.
On Tuesday (12 March), Woolley posted a photo with his parents, who each held an Irish flag, while they together held the qualified sign.
Comments have flooded in under Woolley’s posts, with many sending their congratulations.
Team Ireland commented on one post: “Hard work pays. Congratulations, Jack, see you in Paris!!”
Another comment read: “Now I’ll be watching the games, your dedication got you here champ so keep it up!”
Organisers of the Paris 2024 Olympics, which takes place from Friday 26 July to Sunday, 11 Aug, 2024, have vowed that the event will be the most inclusive yet.
Jack Woolley came out publicly as bisexual in 2016 on RTÉ’s Road to Rio documentary when he was just 17 years-old.
In 2020, he revealed that since coming out, some athletes in martial arts had refused to shake his hand.
The Irish athlete faced further hardship in 2021 when a brutal attack in Dublin left him requiring reconstructive surgery.
In an Instagram story following the attack, Woolley explained the incident and wrote that he was grateful “it didn’t get any worse”.
Woolley crashed out of the 2020 Olympics after competing in the 58kg division. He was eliminated by Argentinian Lucas Guzman in his opening fight.
