Olympian Hopeful Jack Woolley Says Some Opponents Won’t Shake His Hand Since He Came Out
January 27, 2020Olympic hopeful Jack Woolley says some of his opponents won't shake his hand since he came out as bisexual.
Four years ago the athlete, who became the first Irish athlete to qualify in the Olympics for Taekwondo, came out as bisexual and has since faced discrimination in his sport. In a recent interview, the athlete opened up about this discrimination and explained why some of his opponents won't even shake his hand.
“It is tough, my sport,” he said.
“A lot of the top athletes would be Muslim, so you can’t be too open about it. I have had some opponents who wouldn’t shake my hand and I’m just thinking, ‘You need to cop on’. Some have, though. One of the top fighters in the world came up to shake my hand after I won the European silver. I appreciated that. “It’s only if you have a problem with me, I will have a problem with you.
“Maybe it can be good, maybe I can be an inspiration to some young people. And if someone wants to talk to me about what they are going through, they can but I’m not throwing it in your face.”
He continued: “I just wish I never labelled it. I still don’t like labelling it. People are just hell-bent on giving everyone labels nowadays.
“I don’t want to be that. I want to be the first Irish Olympian in my sport, the lad from Tallaght who went to the Olympics, not Jack the gay athlete.”
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