Ashley Moloney

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Ashley Moloney
GOTZ0077 moloney (48038930073).jpg
Personal information
Born (2000-03-13) 13 March 2000 (age 21)
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Sport
CountryAustralia Australia
SportAthletics
Event(s)Decathlon
Coached byEric Brown
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)Decathlon: 8649 (AR)
Medal record
Men's track and field
Representing  Australia
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 2020 Tokyo Decathlon
World Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 2018 Tampere Decathlon

Ashley Moloney (born 13 March 2000) is an Australian decathlete.[1] He won bronze at the 2020 Olympic Games, further improving the Oceanian and Australian record to 8649 points. He became the first Australian decathlete to win an Olympic medal.[2] To secure the bronze medal, Moloney needed to complete the final 1500m event no less than several seconds behind his closest competitors for the bronze medal, and the efforts of his fellow Australian decathlete Cedric Dubler to motivate him in the final stages of this race was lauded by the Australian media as one of the most memorable moments of the Tokyo Olympics.[3][4]

Early years[]

Moloney attended school in Browns Plains, a suburb in Logan Qld.Moloney was the fastest at primary school and enjoyed the crowd that gathered when he broke school high jump records. He competed in jumps, triple/high/pole and sprints for his school, region and state.[5] In 2015, aged 15, he won the Australian All Schools U16 high jump title with a leap of 2.00 metres. Moloney then he competed in his first combined event on just two weeks of training.

Moloney's coach, Eric Brown, believed that Moloney could make the Olympics as a decathlete with a lot of hard work. In early 2016, in his second competition, he won the national U18 title, just days after he turned 16 years of age. In September 2016, he tallied 7328 with a sub-11 100m, 14+ metres in the shot, sub-14 hurdles, 4.60m vault and 4:50 1500m.[5]

Achievements[]

Moloney won the gold medal at the 2018 World Junior Championships in Tampere.[6] In achieving this result, Moloney broke the Competition Record, previously held by Niklas Kaul, and Oceania Junior Record,[7] previously held by Cedric Dubler. In 2017, Moloney broke the U18 Australian Record in Decathlon,[8] previously held by Jake Stein. On 20 December, Moloney broke the Australian National record and Oceanian Record for the Decathlon. Moloney increased the previous record by 2 points, raising Jagan Hames's record of 8490 points to 8492 points.

At the mid-2019 Oceania Championships, while still a teenager, he scored 8103 points with the senior implements, setting himself up for a 2019/2020 summer crack at an Olympic qualifier. But injury initially prevented that attempt, then COVID hit, then at the end of 2020, on a warm day in Brisbane, with his training partner Cedric Dubler alongside him, they both qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.[5]

Personal bests[]

As of 5 August 2021[1]
Event Performance Location Date Virtual Best Performance
Decathlon 8649 points AR NR Tokyo 5 August 2021 8739 points
100 metres 10.34 sec (0.0 m/s) Tokyo 4 August 2021 1013 points
Long jump 7.72 m (0.8 m/s) Sydney 15 April 2021 990 points
Shot put 14.60 m Sydney 13 March 2021 765 points
High Jump 2.11 m Brisbane−Tokyo 19 December 2020−4 August 2021 906 points
400 metres 45.82 Brisbane 19 December 2020 1017 points
110 metres hurdles 14.08 (−1.0 m/s) Tokyo 5 August 2021 964 points
Discus throw 45.11 m Mackay 4 June 2021 769 points
Pole vault 5.05 m Townsville 18 July 2021 926 points
Javelin throw 57.77 m Brisbane 20 December 2020 704 points
1500 metres 4:39.19 Tokyo 5 August 2021 685 points

International competition record[]

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Representing  Australia
2018 World Junior Championships Tampere, Finland 1st Decathlon (Junior) 8190 CR, AJR
7th 4 x 400m relay 3:09:31
2019 Hypo-Meeting Götzis, Austria 13th Decathlon 8038
2019 Oceania Championships Townsville, Australia 1st Decathlon 8103
2021 Olympic Games Tokyo, Japan 3rd Decathlon 8649

Personal life[]

Moloney joined the Jimboomba Little Athletics Club when he was 12 years old.[9] He hails from Logan in Southeast Queensland. He attended Regents Park State School and Browns Plains State High School.[10][11]

References[]

  1. ^ a b Ashley Moloney | Profile | worldathletics.org Accessed 5 August 2021
  2. ^ "Ashley Moloney secures Australia's first Olympic decathlon medal with bronze in Tokyo". www.abc.net.au. 5 August 2021. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  3. ^ "Tokyo Olympics: Seven moments that moved us". www.abc.net.au. 8 August 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  4. ^ "Tokyo delivered, and reminded us what really matters". Fox Sports. 8 August 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  5. ^ a b c "Ash Moloney". Australian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  6. ^ Tampere 2018 Results Accessed 13 July 2018
  7. ^ Moloney and Haasbroek Gold and Silver in Tampere Accessed 15 July 2018
  8. ^ Athletics Australia - Records Accessed 15 July 2018
  9. ^ McLennan, Matt (5 August 2021). "'He was always a good jumper' - tributes to Ash Moloney begin". Redland City Bulletin. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  10. ^ Kennedy, Paul (6 August 2021). "Ash Moloney's decathlon bronze medal at Tokyo Olympics just the beginning for 21-year-old star, coach says". ABC News. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  11. ^ "How an Origin great helped our bronzed Olympian Ash". Courier Mail. 6 August 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2021.

External links[]

Records
Preceded by IAAF U20 World Championships Competition Record
11 July 2018 – present 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
Preceded by Oceanian Junior Decathlon
11 July 2018 – present 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
Preceded by Australia U18 Decathlon
30 March 2017 – present 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
Retrieved from ""