Love, life, loss and taekwondo - Jack Woolley's remarkable Olympic journey

However Ireland's taekwondo pioneer came back stronger and became a better person for his troubles.

Woolley credits his partner Dave, who he met on his return from Tokyo, as the steadying force he needed to mature and to find perspective and happiness."I love being an Olympian and stuff like that, but I never thought I’d have this type of relationship the sport. It’s very hard to balance, being constantly away."I was a little bit lost, but I got back and I had somebody there. It was structure. Just to have somebody there that actually cared, to help me get through everything.

At 17, Woolley came very close to making it to Rio. When he qualified for Tokyo he was convinced he would win gold. Instead, he was left to deal with a dramatic first round exit. "My results in the last cycle since Tokyo have shown how capable I am of getting a medal at this Games. I showed the Irish people that I’m winning medals, like at the European Games last year.

"Now I’m just willing to take advice from people and not be so hard on myself, which I think is the biggest step forward I’ve made. "That’s in the past and I've had three years of...madness. It was a rollercoaster in the sport and trying to qualify took my mind off everything. “Three years later I can say that such a bad thing that happened to me is probably the best thing that has happened to me.”THE first time that Woolley wore the beloved gold chain his granddad Joe gave to him was in Tokyo - the last time was in Bulgaria when it was lost as he qualified for Paris.

“I'd rang home in 2018 to say I had got a gold medal and they told me ‘we're just after pulling the plug on your nana five minutes ago’. He took the chain off before fighting because of the rules and put it in his gum shield box, which his coach kept in his pocket. Afterwards, he would put it back on.

“I was actually not going to go to the Grand Prix in Taipei because I wanted to go to the funeral and my mam just said that could mean whether I qualify for Tokyo or not. Like many involved in combat sports, the taekwondo ace has to be extremely disciplined at making weight for fights.

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