Ash Moloney is a rare beast. Sightings of the Australian decathlete are sparse yet spectacular, with Moloney equally as good at disappearing as he is at showing up – it adds to the intrigue of arguably Australia’s most prodigious athletic talent.
It’s not a humble façade or an act of modesty, it’s just who he is and what he does. While undoubtedly a generational talent, the 22-year-old possesses an innate ability to go above and beyond the discomfort of his competitors to a level that is borderline crazy – and everything in between those opportunities is just noise.
The reigning Olympic and World Indoor bronze medallist has flown under the radar in the lead up to the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Oregon, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I’m quietly confident. I have had a really different preparation leading into this competition where it has all been technique based because after Tokyo I could barely walk, I tore my elbow and I was just a mess,” Moloney says.
“I needed to have a different approach this season because I can’t keep turning up to high jump and long jump being scared to jump. This season is all about making it through, especially with two competitions so close to each other.”
Moloney rattles off a list of war wounds as though they were inevitable in the heat of battle, including a tendon tear during the high jump at the World Indoor Championships. The average athlete would have stopped or slowed down before it became a problem, but Moloney operates on a different wavelength.
His versatile array of personal bests is astounding. 10.36-seconds for the 100m and 45.82-seconds for the 400m. The long jump? 7.82m. The high jump? 2.11m. And this is the same man who can clear 5.10m in the pole vault and run 14.08 in the 110m hurdles? Correct.
“I’m not bringing in any strategies. I’m just going to compete the best that I can at both competitions, that’s how I always compete and if I feel like if I can’t put the best of myself on the field, then what’s the point of being there?” Moloney says.
“To get top three I just need to compete at my best and be better than the other guys on the day, it’s as simple as that.”
Despite his credentials as a former world junior champion, Moloney concedes that he has the dial has been turned up on the pressure gauge after his recent success including a personal best of 8649 points in Tokyo, earning him worldwide recognition as one of the best athletes on the planet.
“Competing with nerves is not something that I am used to. I have always been the underdog and the guy that no one really expects to go top three. This time, I have won medals and people are looking at me to win again, so it’s definitely going to be a different experience,” Moloney says.
“I try to use those nerves rather than stash them in the corner and let them become demons, but that is also getting harder because there is more and more pressure. Obviously I love athletics, but it ends up being in your thought every two seconds, it’s hard to turn that off.”
Keen to shake the injury prone tag that some may associate with him, Moloney has refined various techniques to offer his body a reprieve from his otherwise bulldozer-like approach, with longevity in the sport at the forefront of his mind.
“My idea of a successful career is making it all the way to 2032 [Olympics] and representing my country in my home country. I’m trying to make sure I get my whole body right for 2024 Paris and onwards,” Moloney says.
“It gives me a lot of confidence. This competition is all about winning but it’s also not, I’m very young and if I kept competing the way I was, I wasn’t going to make it to 2024.”
If history is anything to go by, the prospect of two Moloney sightings in the space of two weeks for the World Athletics Championships and Commonwealth Games is bound to be an eventful one, as the Australian looks to add to his trophy cabinet before returning home to play with what he describes as his “toys” – his four-wheel drive and V8 Commodore.
By Lachlan Moorhouse, Athletics Australia
Posted: 13/7/2022
