Ash Moloney withdraws from 2024 Paris Olympic Games decathlon

Ash Moloney has withdrawn from the decathlon at the Paris Olympics after being struck down by an injury on the first day of the athletics program.

Ash Moloney has withdrawn from the decathlon at the Paris Olympics after being struck down by an adductor injury.

Moloney had completed three events in the decathlon on the opening day of competition and was running 19th when he made the decision to withdraw.

It caps a wretched few years for the 24-year-old in the wake of his stunning bronze at the Tokyo Games.

Moloney recently conceded he had made a “dog’s breakfast” of qualification for the Paris Olympics after pulling out of five consecutive competitions with injury.

He only sealed his place on the team at the Oceania championships but his injury curse has struck again, bringing an early end to his Games.

Ashl Moloney competes during the shot up leg of the men's decathlon. Picture: Getty Images

Moloney had opened the competition with a strong 100m, leaving him fifth place after the first event.

However, his performance slowly went downhill after that and when he emerged for the high jump, he was already showing signs of wear and tear with strapping around his knee.

He finished in the bottom few in the long jump and then dead last in the shot put.

By the time he called it quits he was already at the back end of the field and struggling to match his heroics of three years ago.

Moloney ended up withdrawing due to injury. Picture: AFP

On the eve of the Games, Moloney had made the concession that he had to adjust his mentality after a string of injuries.

“Being young and naive I thought I was bullet proof,’’ he said. “Now I have a much more stable training environment and procedures that I go through every single day.

“Before it was just go harder, harder, harder, keep going until something breaks and then just pick yourself up and do the same thing.

Moloney had hoped to repeat his heroics of four years ago. Picture: Getty Images

“After Tokyo I was busted. I couldn’t walk properly as it was an all-or-nothing sort of effort. Then I got to the world indoors (in 2022) and competed well but I really hurt myself in the high jump.

“The knee which I had hurt in Tokyo, I did it worse and gave myself a little tear in the patella. After that it was kind of the same thing over and over. That was when I had five consecutive competitions in a row where I had to pull out because of my knee.”

Originally published as Ash Moloney withdraws from 2024 Paris Olympic Games decathlon