Taekwondo Olympian beaten up and requires surgery after random street attack

• Jack Woolley, who represented Team Ireland in the Tokyo Olympics, was beaten in a Dublin street.
• The 22-year-old taekwondo athlete now requires surgery to treat the injuries to his mouth.
• Warning: The following story contains graphic images.

Jack Woolley, who represented Team Ireland in the Tokyo Olympics, shared bloody images of himself on his Instagram after a brutal attack on the streets of Dublin on August 13.

The 22-year-old taekwondo athlete explained on his Instagram that after a meal with a friend, he was walking along the street when "roughy 8-12 men and women in their 20s began violently attacking people."

" Unfortunately I was victim to these random attacks as I was just walking by before 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."

Woolley said he will be having surgery on his mouth to mend his injuries.

There has been a question as to the motive of the attacks, with Woolley's open discussion of his bisexuality being considered as one reason why he may have been attacked.

"I know there's some suggestion out there that he was targeted on purpose, but you know if you look at the circumstances, it really couldn't have been," said his mother, Annette.

"Five other people all with no other connection to each other at all attacked at the exact same time in the same place.

"It was just wrong place, wrong time," she told an Irish newspaper, as reported by yahoo!sport.

Woolley was eliminated in his opening fight in the 58kg division in Tokyo.