| Full name | Ashley Moloney |
|---|---|
| Birth date | 13 March 2000 (age 26) |
| Birth place | Brisbane, Queensland, Australia |
| Height | 193 cm |
| Country | Australia |
| Sport | Athletics |
| Event | Decathlon, Heptathlon |
| Pb | Decathlon: 8,649 ' ' Heptathlon: 6,344 ' ' |
Ashley Moloney (born 13 March 2000) is an Australian decathlete.[1] He won bronze at the 2020 Olympic Games, the first Australian to win an Olympic medal in the decathlon.
Early life
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.[2] In 2015, aged 15, he won the Australian All Schools U16 high jump title with a leap of 2.00 metres. Moloney competed in his first combined event on just two weeks of training.[citation needed]
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. 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.[2]
Achievements
In 2017 Moloney broke the U18 Australian Decathlon Points Record [3] previously held by Jake Stein.
He won the gold medal at the 2018 World Junior Championships in Tampere.[4] In achieving this result, Moloney broke the Competition Record, previously held by Niklas Kaul, and the Oceania Junior Record previously held by Cedric Dubler.[5] At the mid-2019 Oceania Championships, while still a teenager, Moloney scored 8103 points with the senior implements, raising the prospect of qualifying for the 2020 Olympics. Although injury in early 2020 threatened Ash's Olympic dream, the COVID-19 pandemic caused the Tokyo Olympics to be postponed and Moloney and his training partner Dubler were able to qualify for them at the end of 2020. In doing so Moloney broke the Australian senior and Oceanian records for the Decathlon, increasing Jagan Hames's previous records by 2 points to 8492 points.[6]
In winning bronze at the 2020 Olympic Games, the first Australian decathlete to medal at an Olympics, he further improved the Oceanian and Australian record to 8649 points.[7] Needing to complete the final 1500m event within several seconds of his closest points competitors, or better, the efforts of Ashley's fellow Australian decathlete Cedric Dubler to motivate him in the final stages of this race were lauded by the Australian and even world media as one of the most memorable moments of the Tokyo Olympics.[8][9]
Moloney competed in the 2022 World Indoor Athletics Championships in the Men's Heptathlon where he finished the first day's competition in third place with 3,551 points. He finished in 3rd place with 6344 points, an Oceania Area Record and the highest third place tally ever for an indoor heptathlon.[10]
Moloney was unable to finish the decathlon at the 2024 Summer Olympics after suffering an adductur injury during the long jump.[11] In 2026, he began to focus on the 400m hurdles.[12] He placed third in the 400 m hurdles at the Australian Championships on 12 April 2026, finishing behind Kyle Bennett and national champion Matthew Hunt.[13]
Personal bests
Outdoor
| Event | Performance | Location | Date | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Decathlon | Tokyo | 4–5 August 2021 | 8,649 points | |
| 100 metres | 10.34 (+0.2 m/s) | Tokyo | 4 August 2021 | 1,013 points |
| Long jump | (+0.5 m/s) | Brisbane | 16 December 2023 | 1,002 points |
| Shot put | Götzis | 27 May 2023 | 802 points | |
| High Jump | Brisbane | 19 December 2020 | 915 points | |
| 400 metres | 45.82 | Brisbane | 19 December 2020 | 1,017 points |
| 110 metres hurdles | 14.08 (-1.0 m/s) | Tokyo | 5 August 2021 | 964 points |
| Discus throw | Suva | 3 June 2024 | 804 points | |
| Pole vault | Cairns | 18 July, 2021 | 926 points | |
| Javelin throw | Brisbane | 20 December 2020 | 704 points | |
| 1500 metres | 4:39.19 | Tokyo | 5 August 2021 | 685 points |
| Virtual Best Performance | 8,832 points | |||
Indoor
| Event | Performance | Location | Date | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heptathlon | Belgrade | 18–19 March 2022 | 6,344 points | |
| 60 metres | 6.70 | Belgrade | 18 March 2022 | 992 points |
| Long jump | Belgrade | 18 March 2022 | 1,015 points | |
| Shot put | Belgrade | 18 March 2022 | 758 points | |
| High Jump | Belgrade | 18 March 2022 | 822 points | |
| 60 metres hurdles | 7.88 | Belgrade | 19 March 2022 | 1,012 points |
| Pole vault | Belgrade | 19 March 2022 | 941 points | |
| 1000 metres | 2:43.01 | Belgrade | 19 March 2022 | 840 points |
| Virtual Best Performance | 6,344 points | |||
International competition record
| Representing Australia | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | World Junior Championships | Tampere, Finland | 1st | Decathlon (Junior) | 8190 CR, AJR | |
| 7th | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:09:31 | ||||
| 2019 | Hypo-Meeting | Götzis, Austria | 13th | Decathlon | 8038 | |
| Oceania Championships | Townsville, Australia | 1st | Decathlon | 8103 | ||
| 2021 | Olympic Games | Tokyo, Japan | 3rd | Decathlon | 8649 | |
| 2022 | World Indoor Championships | Belgrade, Serbia | 3rd | Heptathlon | 6344 | |
| World Championships | Eugene, United States | – | Decathlon | DNF | ||
| 2023 | Hypo-Meeting | Götzis, Austria | – | Decathlon | DNF | |
| World Championships | Budapest, Hungary | — | Decathlon | DNF | ||
| 2024 | Olympic Games | Paris, France | – | Decathlon | DNF | |
Personal life
Moloney joined the Jimboomba Little Athletics Club when he was 12 years old.[14] He hails from Logan in Southeast Queensland. He attended Regents Park State School and Browns Plains State High School.[15][16]
References
- ^ "Ashley MOLONEY". worldathletics.org. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
- ^ "Ash Moloney". Australian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
- ^ "Athletics Australia - Records". athletics.com.au. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
- ^ "Tampere 2018 Results". media.aws.iaaf.org. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
- ^ "Moloney and Haasbroek Gold and Silver in Tampere". athletics.com.au. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
- ^ "Moloney breaks Oceania decathlon record with 8492 in Brisbane". worldathletics.org. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
- ^ "Ashley Moloney secures Australia's first Olympic decathlon medal with bronze in Tokyo". abc.net.au. 5 August 2021. Archived 5 August 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
- ^ "Tokyo Olympics: Seven moments that moved us". abc.net.au. 8 August 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
- ^ "Tokyo delivered, and reminded us what really matters". Fox Sports. 8 August 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
- ^ "Summary: Men's Heptathlon World Athletics Indoor Championships Belgrade 2022". worldathletics.com. March 20, 2022.
- ^ Nag, Utathya (August 2, 2024). "Injury ends Australian decathlon star Ash Moloney’s Paris 2024 Olympics campaign prematurely". olympics.com
- ^ Team, TrackAthletes. "The Countdown is on". Track Athletes. Retrieved 2026-04-11.
- ^ "GOUT BREAKS WORLD RECORD AS HULL RETURNS TO THRONE ON FINAL DAY OF AUSTRALIAN ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS". Athletics.com.au. 12 April 2026. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
- ^ McLennan, Matt (5 August 2021). "'He was always a good jumper' - tributes to Ash Moloney begin". Redland City Bulletin. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "How an Origin great helped our bronzed Olympian Ash". Courier Mail. 6 August 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
External links
- Ashley Moloney at Australian Athletics
- Ashley Moloney at Australian Athletics Historical Results
- Ashley Moloney at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics (archived, alternate link)