Woolley and Taaffe to map out strategy for Olympics
HAVING recently secured qualification for the 2020 Olympic Games, South Dublin Taekwondo star Jack Woolley and his coach Robert Taaffe will be attempting to map out a strategy that will give him the best chance of medalling in Tokyo this year.
A lot of variables remain unresolved in that regard as the Olympic qualifiers in Europe, Pan America, Africa, Asia and Oceania will only be run between February and April while it also remains to be seen if host nation Japan will field a competitor in Woolley’s weight division.
South Dublin Taekwondo’s Shauna Farrell, Jack Woolley and Emma Cahill at the winter training camp in Madrid
“Our next steps will be to carefully plan out our year ahead ensuring Jack is given access to the correct tournaments that will benefit his Olympic seeding” Taaffe told The Echo.
“We will be strategically planning for the other 15 athletes in the division as they become known.
“In the first four months [of 2020] each continent will have their fight offs for the remaining Olympic berths so we will be closely monitoring these events in Europe, Africa, Asia, Pan America and Oceania.
“We want to devise a strategy that will give Jack the best possible chance [in the Olympics]” said Taaffe.
Certainly as an athlete, Woolley has proven well capable of adapting to any challenge that he faces.
“One of Jack’s best qualities is the diversity of kicks he can produce” said Taaffe. “He’s not just a one-trick pony. He can do it all and do it well” he said.
It is such qualities that has seen the Tallaght man enjoy another great year with gold in the Turkish and Australian Open, as well as the Pan Am Championships, together with a superb silver in the European Championship and US Open.
Woolley completed another unforgettable year with a winter training camp in Madrid alongside club mates Emma Cahill and Shauna Farrell.
The camp which is run by Hankuk International School, one of the most prominent teams in the world and close friends of SDTKD Club since the last Olympics in Rio, attracted 270 Taekwondo enthusiasts from 25 countries.
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