Is our greatest Tokyo Olympic moment yet coming tonight courtesy of Ashley Moloney?

Is Australia’s greatest Tokyo Olympic Games moment yet to come, with a 21-year-old from working class Heritage Park stalking the world’s best - and eyeing off a podium finish tonight.

Is Australia’s greatest Tokyo Olympic Games moment yet to come, with a 21-year-old from working class Heritage Park stalking the world’s best – and eyeing off a podium finish tonight.

Ashley Moloney, who learned to jump at Jimboomba Little Athletics Club, sits second this morning entering the final day of the 10 event decathlete program.

This followed his herculean day of track and field yesterday when he blazed to a PB efforts in the 100m and shot put, and won the high jump and 400m events.

If he snares a medal – or wins it – it could be ranked as Australia’s greatest Games moment from Tokyo, maybe better than Ariarne Titmus’ extraordinary defeat of Katie LeDecky in the 400m freestyle.

RELATED LINKS

THE 2018 STORY FIRST MENTIONING MOLONEY AS A TOKYO GAMES PROSPECT

MOLONEY QUALIFIES FOR THE OLYMPICS

News Corp has long mooted Moloney as “the sleeping giant of world athletics’’ and only two weeks ago ranked him as the No.1 Queensland medal wildcard chance at the Games.

While the general public were waking up this morning asking themselves “whose Ashley Moloney’’, his peers know all about him.

Athletics Wednesday OLY

Indeed earlier this year at the state titles, his score of 8492 across the 10 events was unheard of for someone so young and prompted dual Olympic gold medallist Ashton Eaton and ex-Olympic medallist and world champion medallist Damian Warner to publicly acknowledge his Olympic qualifying effort.

Ashley Moloney of Team Australia. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

So talented is Moloney, a Brisbane Boys College old boy, that his performances as an under 20 have bettered current world record holder Kevin Mayer at the same age.

The unknown factor in Moloney’s campaign is how he handles going to bed last night being in second place.

It would be a bit like a Test cricket batsman going to bed 90 not out. How will he handle it? In his favour is the presence of his training partner, Rio Olympian and Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Cedric Dubler, who is also competing.

And he has his old fox of a coach, UQ Sport’s Eric Brown, by his side – all of which is in his favour.

Originally published as Is our greatest Tokyo Olympic moment yet coming tonight courtesy of Ashley Moloney?