Jack Woolley is having a blast at the Paris Summer Olympics. He’s posting photos of himself with track star Sha’Carri Richardson. He’s posting goofy videos of himself in a sombrero or vamping to what he says is his new entrance song. He’s hawking Corona on his Instagram account as he takes in all the sights of Paris.
Most important, the Irish taekwondo athlete, who is gay, loves to post photos of himself with his boyfriend, Dave, the couple having celebrated their third-year anniversary this summer. Photos of them smiling in their “happy place.” With a golden sun as the backdrop. At Woolley’s Team Ireland celebration. In sunglasses, with the sentence, “Thank you for being the reason I wake up everyday with a smile.”
This is quite a change from three years ago when Woolley’s Olympics ended in a disappointing last-second loss in his first fight that left him in tears. He also bristled at being labeled an out LGBTQ Olympian in Tokyo in 2021.
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“I just wish I never labelled it,” he said in early 2020 after coming out as bi. “I still don’t like labeling it. People are just hell-bent on giving everyone labels nowadays. They will say you are very flamboyant or whatever, but the thing is I kick people for a living.”
That was then and this is now. What changed? Meeting Dave did.
“I’ll be honest with you guys,” Woolley told Outsports. “I was always very uncomfortable being associated as a gay athlete. Not because I am ashamed of being gay. Quite the opposite, but more that I wanted to live my life without throwing it in people’s faces.
“In the last few months, I’ve really noticed the benefits of being open that I’m in a same-sex relationship and how much it can inspire others, so thank you so much for sharing us! It’s very important.”
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Woolley, 25, competes Wednesday in the 58kg (about 127 pounds) class in the field of 16, with all bouts occurring that day. He is seeded seventh with a world ranking of ninth and is a serious medal contender in a sport with little margin for error. Unlike in Tokyo, when he was alone because of the distance and COVID restrictions, this year in Paris he will be cheered on by friends and members of two families, his and Dave’s.
Three days after returning to Tokyo in 2021, a dejected Woolley went out on a date, with few expectations given his experience on the dating scene.
“As a gay man I never thought I’d be able to find someone who loves me like he does,” Woolley told Outsports about Dave.
“I came out quite young so I grew up seeing the toxicity of the dating scene and kinda lost hope. I decided to get back from Tokyo and just focus on myself and see what life holds. Three days after I got home from the Olympics, I went on a date and now we are together three years.”
Woolley’s journey is very common for LGBTQ athletes. It’s an odd feeling having to discuss your sexually openly, something not required for straight athletes. It can come off self-serving or even a bit braggadocios and be uncomfortable being labelled a “gay athlete.”
Yet only through visibility can change be made for LGBTQ people in sports, and it’s something Woolley now recongnizes. He is a role model for any LGBTQ athlete, martial artist or not, who wonders if it’s possible to be out in sports and thrive. The fact that he’s in love and having the time of his life is a powerful testimony to this.
