LAST UPDATE | 7 Aug

Written by Gavan Casey and originally published on The 42 whose award-winning team produces original content that you won’t find anywhere else: on GAA, League of Ireland, women’s sport and boxing, as well as our game-changing rugby coverage, all with an Irish eye. Subscribe here.

IRELAND’S JACK WOOLLEY lost in his second shot at the Paris Olympic Games against Spain’s Adrián Vicente in the taekwondo men’s 58kg repechage this evening.

Woolley was handed a reprieve and could have still won a bronze medal despite earlier losing his opening bout 2-0 to Azerbaijan’s Gashin Magomedov.

However, Vicente proved too good for Woolley in a close-fought encounter.

The Irish star established an early two-point lead, but the Spaniard recovered, narrowly winning the opening round 10-9. 

It remained tight throughout and after the second round finished 2-2, Vicente just about prevailed.

The earlier defeat had left Woolley facing an agonising wait to see if his competition would continue or end at the first hurdle. To qualify for the repechage, the Dubliner needed Magomedov to win two further bouts and reach the gold-medal decider.

The Azerbaijani held up his end of the bargain, winning a quarter-final and semi-final to bring Woolley back into bronze-medal contention.

Woolley bowed out of the Tokyo Games without a second chance but acquitted himself well in the preliminary repechage match against Vicente, a bronze medallist at last year’s World Championships.

The Spaniard next faces a beaten semi-finalist for an Olympic bronze medal later this evening.

In his 58kg curtain-raiser this afternoon, Woolley fell 4-0 behind in the first round to eventual finalist Magomedov, three of whose points were for a head-kick.

Woolley pulled a point back before his Azerbaijani opponent was awarded a further three following a video review. The Irishman dug deep to lose the first round by only three points, 7-4, but he needed to win the second to keep the fight alive.

Woolley took an early 3-0 lead in the second round with a head-kick of his own but Magomedov ultimately prevailed 12-7 in a high-scoring verse.

'Six months ago, I wouldn't have seen myself here, in the head space that I'm in' - A disappointed Jack Woolley talks to RTÉ Sport following his defeat in the Taekwondo 58kg #RTESport #Paris2024
📺 Watch https://t.co/b2OI4OoWVJ
📱Updates https://t.co/qupZp4QZEF pic.twitter.com/rmE5ds5PYo

— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 7, 2024

“I’m obviously very upset but d’you know what, I’m super proud of myself,” Woolley told RTÉ after his first match.

“Six months ago, I wouldn’t have seen myself here in the headspace that I’m in. I wasn’t sure whether I was going to make it to the Games because we didn’t qualify through ranking and I had to go to Olympic qualifiers. I was in a really tough space in life in general and I was like, ‘D’you know what, just give it this one last go.’

“To come here today, that was my main goal: to come in and enjoy it and just show myself that six months ago, I wasn’t here. I’ve trained the best I’ve ever trained.

“I’ve fought that opponent — that’s the third time now. I’ve won one, he’s won two now. It’s devastating because you know you can beat them on the day. He’s obviously been planning for me the way I’ve been planning for him and the result didn’t go the way we planned.

“It’s a tough one to take, it hasn’t sunk in yet, but I’d just like to say thanks to everybody that came here today. It’s the first time my grandfather has seen me fight in person. My parents have barely ever come to see me fight. It’s just great to have them here and at least I’m not — like Tokyo — going back to a hotel room and just being upset.”