Tokyo Olympics 2021: Aussie Ash Moloney wins Olympic bronze medal in the decathlon

In the toughest event in track and field, Queensland’s Ash Moloney has created history by winning an Olympic bronze medal in the decathlon.

Ash Moloney has won bronze in the Men's Decathlon. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty

Move over Russell Crowe, Australia has a new gladiator.

In the toughest event in track and field, Queensland’s Ash Moloney has created history by winning an Olympic bronze medal in the decathlon.

“F**k yeah,’ the 21-year-old screamed on learning he won the bronze.

The decathletes are called gladiators for a reason with 10 gruelling events over two days with Moloney going where no Australian has ever been.

It took a gutsy performance in the final event, the 1500m for the 21-year-old to solidify his spot on the medals dais.

With his teammate Cedric Dubler urging him along, Moloney found something extra over the final 200m to close the gap to his closest rival, ensuring the bronze medal was his.

Ash Moloney with Cedric Dubler after learning he won the bronze medal Picture: Alex Coppel.

In an incredible show of camaraderie between the Aussie athletes, Dubler set the pace for Moloney to ensure he remained in touch with American Garrett Scantling.

Canada’s Damian Warner took the gold medal on 9018 points from France’s Kevin Mayer (8726) with Moloney third on 8649, just 38 points clear of fourth-placed Scantling.

His mum Alyson, watching in lockdown in Queensland, said she could not believe she was the mother of an Olympic medallist.

“I was sitting in my bed yelling my heart out, banging on the bed telling him to go faster, he was getting so far behind in the 1500m,” she said.

Mrs Moloney said the swearing was understandable given the circumstances – but warned him not to do it again.

The previous best finish by an Australian was Peter Mullins who finished sixth at the 1948 Olympics in London.

Moloney made a statement early in the competition on Wednesday morning, ripping out a personal best of 10.34sec in the 100m.

Cedric Dubler shouting encouragement to Ash Moloney Picture: Alex Coppel.

He was solid in the long jump and then made his move in the medal frame with a brilliant high-jump where he cleared 2.11m.

The 400m has always been his strength and he consolidated his second place in the standings when he won his heat in 46.29sec.

He started Thursday’s session by producing another personal best of 14.08sec in the 110m hurdles and then a decent effort in the discus before an impressive pole vault clearance of 5.00m kept him in second place.

However, the penultimate event was where he found problems with the javelin throw, not the Australian’s strength.

That was where Mayer made his move by throwing an incredible 73.09m to Moloney’s 57.12m to leapfrog him into second position.

It then came down to the 1500m where a gutsy final 200m saw the Australian create history.

The previous best finish by an Australian was Peter Mullins who finished sixth at the 1948 Olympics in London.

Ash Moloney with the Australian flag celebrate his Australian bronze. Picture: Alex Coppel.

Moloney has been destined for greatness since he arrived on the scene in 2018 winning the under 20 world championships.

An insight into his prodigious talent came in the 400m where he ran the third quickest time by a decathlete ever. That is open age, at any time in the history of the sport.

Moloney had almost been a reluctant devotee to the sport when he joined Eric Brown’s training group in Brisbane with his training partner Cedric Dubler often catching him eating sweets underneath the grandstand before a session.

But it soon became obvious there was something special given his physical capabilities and when he committed to ditching the junk food, a once in a generation talent was born.

MOLONEY MAKES OLYMPIC HISTORY

Australia’s Ash Moloney cleared 5.00m in the pole vault to solidify his position in the top three after earlier producing a personal best of 14.08sec in the 110m hurdles.

However, Warner went even better, setting a new Olympic record of 13.46sec which pushed his lead out to 162 points.

Moloney then responded with a decent result in the discus, throwing 44.38m in the opening group.

Ash Moloney is in the hunt in the Men's Decathlon. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty.

AUSSIE IN MIX TO BE WORLD’S BEST ALL-ROUNDER

They’re regarded as the gladiators of the Olympic Games. Ten events in two days explains their respect in the track-and-field world, and in the early running on Wednesday, Queensland’s Ash Moloney was making his mark.

Much like the men’s sprinting ranks in the post-Usain Bolt era, the decathlon has come to Tokyo looking for its next superstar.

American Ashton Eaton was the face of the event for the past decade, winning back-to-back gold medals in London 2012 and Rio 2016.

He ticked all the right boxes: good looking, well spoken and a promoter’s dream.

Moloney is not that yet, but he is certainly a striking figure who has ­already done things in the event that have people who matter sitting up and taking notice.

He won the under-20 world championship in 2018, and has run the third-quickest time for the 400m by a decathlete ever.

That’s open age, at any time in the history of the sport. On Wednesday night Moloney won his 400m comfortably to sit in the silver medal position going into the second day.

At this year’s national titles in April he compiled a personal best 8492 points. At the time it was the second-highest score in the world for 12 months.

History shows that if you score about 8500 points or more at a major championships then you are right in Olympic medal contention.

And given Moloney is young and improving, it’s a good place to be.

Any issues about the occasion of his Olympic debut getting to him were quickly put to bed on Wednesday morning when the Australian champion ripped out a personal best 10.34sec in the 100m.

That was soon overshadowed by Canada’s Damian Warner, who wouldn’t have been out of place in the 100m semi-finals a couple of nights earlier, stopping the clock on 10.12sec.

Ash Moloney in the 100m. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty

Ash Moloney in the long jump. Picture: David Ramos/Getty

The exact scenario happened again in the next event with Moloney producing an impressive 7.64m jump only to have Warner blow it out of the park with an extraordinary 8.24m, a leap that would have won him the bronze medal in the individual event on Monday.

While the shot put was nothing to write home about for Moloney, the end of the first session in decathlon had him very much in the medal frame.

Moloney’s training partner Cedric Dubler, who had a hamstring complaint coming into the Games, was further down the pack.

Originally published as Tokyo Olympics 2021: Aussie Ash Moloney wins Olympic bronze medal in the decathlon