Jack was taken to hospital and treated for his injuries over the weekend.
The mother of the Irish Olympian who was injured in an incident that took place on Saturday morning has said that the alleged assault on her son was a random attack.
Jack Woolley, who represented Ireland in taekwondo, said that he was hospitalised after a gang of men and women began “violently attacking people”.
On Instagram, he shared photos of his injuries.
In the caption, he wrote: “Unfortunately I was victim to these random attacks as I was just walking bye 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.”
He added that he was able to call for an ambulance and his friends stayed with him to help.
He then thanked his followers on social media for their support.
Over the weekend, his mother Annette talked about the ordeal to RTÉ’s Brendan O’Connor.
She said that her son was “much more concerned about the other people” who had been attacked, and believed that it was random in nature.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CRyTTH4hdGZ/
“I know there’s some suggestion out there that he was targeted on purpose,” she said. “But you know, if you look at the circumstances, it really couldn’t have been.”
She continued: “Five other people all with no other connection to each other at all attacked at the exact same time in the same place. It’s just wrong place, wrong time.”
Ms Woolley told O’Connor that even if her son had time to retaliate, he might not have, given the discipline of his sport.
She said that he asked himself: “Do I fight back? Do I defend myself, do I not?”
She added that the discipline of taekwondo advises practitioners not to be violent.
“It’s not MMA,” she said. “It’s a very respectful sport. They’re very conscious about safety. You don’t go out to hurt, you go out to score points.”
