Irish Olympian Jack Woolley, who competed in taekwondo, was physically assaulted in Dublin city on Friday night.
Mr Woolley, a 22-year-old from Tallaght, received treatment in hospital for injuries to his face.
In a post on Instagram, the young man said he had been “sucker punched” while out in Dublin city centre. The injury required a number of temporary stitches on his upper lip, and would require some plastic surgery, he said.
A picture he posted shortly after the assault shows the taekwondo fighter sitting on the ground, with injuries to his face and a large amount of blood on his shirt and clothes.
“How’s everyone’s night going? Mines delightful,” he posted on social media while in the back of an ambulance.
During the recent Tokyo Olympics, he gave an emotional interview after being knocked out of the games following a disappointing defeat to Argentinean Lucas Guzman. The interview was shared widely on social media.
Annette Woolley, his mother, said her son had been crossing the road in the city centre when he was punched in the face by an individual who then ran away.
She said he is still in St James’s Hospital awaiting surgery, but that the surgeon expected he may only be left with a small scar on his upper lip.
“He was crossing the road and he just got smacked in the face,” she told The Irish Times.
“He keeps saying he’s fine and he’s grand... He got a little bit of sleep which is more than I did,” she said.
Gardaí arrived on the scene shortly after the assault took place and administered first-aid while an ambulance was en route, she said.
“He will be eating an awful lot of ice cream for the next few weeks,” his mother said.
A Garda spokesman confirmed gardaí had attended the scene of an assault in the early hours on Saturday morning, on Grattan Bridge, in the city centre. “No arrests have been made. Investigations are ongoing,” the spokesman said.
