Irish Olympian Jack Woolley assaulted in Dublin

James Cox

Warning: Graphic content 

Irish Olympian Jack Woolley was injured in an assault in Dublin city centre last night.

Mr Woolley, a 22-year-old from Tallaght, competed in taekwondo at the Tokyo Olympics.

He shared a photograph on Instagram after the assault with his clothes covered in blood.

Two other pictures showed Mr Woolley's facial injuries as he sat in a hospital bed and a Garda helping him after the attack.

He wrote: “Thank you to everyone for all the messages to see how I am doing.

“Last night (Friday 13th August) I went for a meal with my friend. Followed by a bar for a couple of drinks. Heading back along the River Liffey a gang of roughly [sic] 8-12 men and women in their 20s began violently attacking people along the boardwalk. Unfortunately I was victim to these random attacks as I was just walking bye before I was punched in the face by one of these group members. Only one punch and followed by “my mistake wrong person” then they continued to run off down the road attacking more civilians minding their own business.

“Luckily I was able to phone an ambulance and stay conscious. My friends helped me through out all over this and I’m glad to say they both are well and safe. I am lucky this is all that happened as there were a handful of us hospitalised and one I have heard to have died after being stabbed (word of mouth) I’m currently waiting in James’s hospital for mouth surgery.

“Thank you all again for the support and kind messages. I hope for a speedy recovery. It’s been a tough couple of months.

“WHAT A DAY.”

Annette Woolley, his mother, told The Irish Times: “He was crossing the road and he just got smacked in the face. He keeps saying he’s fine and he’s grand... he got a little bit of sleep which is more than I did.

“He will be eating an awful lot of ice cream for the next few weeks,” she added.