Aussie Olympian Ash Moloney can be the ‘greatest all-round athlete on the planet’
After announcing himself in Tokyo as the new pin-up boy of Australian sport, there have been some remarkable claims about how good Ash Moloney can be.
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Ash Moloney’s coach believes the young gun can become the “greatest all-round athlete on the planet” and has the potential to be the best decathlete in history after his stunning performance in Tokyo.
The 21-year-old won bronze as the 10-part event came to a thrilling conclusion in Thursday night’s final 1500m race, establishing himself as the new pin-up boy of Australian athletics.
Moloney dropped a personal best in the 110m hurdles, cleared 5m in the pole vault and launched his javelin a season-best 57.12m before crossing the line just in time in the 1500m to seal third place.
The Queenslander also clocked a scorching 10.34 seconds in the 100m, easily won his 400m heat, hurled himself 7.64m in the long jump and soared to top spot in his high jump group with a leap of 2.11m.
Moloney finished with 8649 points – behind first-placed Damian Warner on 9018 points – which his coach Eric Brown said was a remarkable effort from a “freak of nature” and “once in a lifetime athlete”.
“At 21 years of age most decathletes would be around 7500-7600 points and Ash was 8600,” Brown told SEN radio.
“Ash will be one of the greatest athletes on the planet. If he doesn’t get injured at any stage, he will break Mayer’s world record by hundreds of points. He is just ridiculously good.
“That is how good this kid is, he’s a superstar on the rise and I think the whole world has now been alerted to that.
“His 100m time is 10.3 which is ridiculous for a decathlete and he will eventually be the fastest Australian 100m runner, and he’s a decathlete.
“He runs 45.7 for the 400m, he is the second best 400m runner in Australia and would have been in the 4x400m relay team if that had gone ahead.”
Brown said decathletes normally peak at around 28, so Moloney has plenty of time to hit some lofty heights. “It was monumental, that performance by a 21-year-old is just unheard of,” Brown added of his star pupil’s showing in Tokyo. “You don’t win medals at that age and that particular event.”
Brown told AAP “at 21 years of age, Ash is the greatest all-round athlete on the planet” and believes he’s light years ahead of where world record holder Kevin Mayer was at the same age.
He also says it’s just a matter of time before Moloney obliterates the world record, which stands at 9126 points, and is excited about how much potential there is to work with.
“If you add 1000 points to what Ash did in Tokyo, he’ll break the world record by 400 or 500 points if nothing happens to him with injury,” Brown said.
“He is an absolute superstar.”
However, Moloney wouldn’t have won bronze without some help from fellow Australian decathlete Cedric Dubler, who finished 21st overall. Knowing he was out of medal contention, Dubler sacrificed his own 1500m race and ran alongside Moloney, acting as a pacer and yelling encouragement to get his training partner to the line in time.
Originally published as Aussie Olympian Ash Moloney can be the ‘greatest all-round athlete on the planet’
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