Cedric Dubler

BIOGRAPHY

Competing in his second Olympics, Cedric Dubler may not have finished on the podium but a selfless act of true Australian sporting mateship, has propelled him into Australian folklore, as he becomes a household name. His inspiring act has coined a new Aussie phrase, #DoingADubler, now added to the Australian vernacular. In 2022 he was awarded the AOC’s inaugural Cecil Healy Award for Outstanding Sportsmanship.

In the summer 2020/21 Cedric Dubler was in the form of his life.  In December 2020 at the Queensland Championships he scoring 8367 points in the decathlon, a 138-point PB and an Olympic qualifier. It elevated him to number 3 in Australian history and was his eighth score over 8000 points – now the most consistent Australian decathlete ever. But his Tokyo Olympic preparation fell apart when he tore a hamstring two weeks before the Games. There was doubt he would get to the start line let alone finish the gruelling two-day competition. He battled through the event in Tokyo, even setting a shot put PB, but he no heighted in the pole vault, eventually placing 21st with a score of 7008 points.

During the last event on the program, the 1500m, he encouraged training partner Ash Moloney, who was locked in a battle for a podium finish. Cedric knew the margin Ash needed to finish behind American Garrett Scantling to take bronze and sensing it was tight, Cedric increased his support for Ash shouting for him to get moving. It worked as Ash won a historic bronze medal and marked his own selflessness act down as one of the memorable moments of the Games.

Post Olympics, Cedric moved coaches, to strength and conditioner and former shot putter Chris Gaviglio. In April 2022 at the National Championships, Cedric won the Australian title with a PB score of 8393. His fifth National title included a PB in the 400m with a time of 47.14.

At his third world championships in Eugene, Cedric continued his progression. After 18th and 11th places previously, he finished a superb 8th in his best championship total of 8246 points. With just 10 days break, he lined up in the decathlon at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, where he won his second bronze at the Games. 

In 2023 he competed in the Gotzis Decathlon in May where he placed 14th with a total of 8009 – his fourth consecutive score over 8000 points. Unfortunately, in Budapest at the world championships Cedric withdrew after the high jump with a back issue.

Cedric Dubler is Australia’s most prolific Australian decathlete with the most, 12, scores over 8000 and 7 of the top-20 scores.

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Cedric Dubler was a kid who was always outside riding up and down the street on his bike or flipping about on his skateboards and scooters. He was good at basketball, into volleyball but also couldn't decide if soccer was his game. He was a restless kid for whom one sport was never enough. At Little Athletics he did it all and he was into cross-country. Initially he competed in the 800m, long jump and sprints. He coach Eric Brown to train for pole vault and Brown realised he had a decathlete.

Aged 17, Cedric placed an amazing fourth at the 2012 World U20 Championships and two years later won silver. He was Australia’s finest ever junior decathlete until his training partner Ash Moloney came along and broke his records.
In 2016, Dubler, qualified for the Rio Olympics the first Australian since 2000 to compete at the Games and moved up to number three Australian all-time with his score of 8114 points. On limited preparation in 2017, he defended his national title and placed 18th at the 2017 IAAF World Championships. 

He prepared meticulously for a shot at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in his own backyard. Over the 2017/18 summer he made improvements in the 110m hurdles, discus and pole vault. At the national championships and Commonwealth Games trials he achieved PBs in the 100m, shot, 110m hurdles pole vault, javelin and 1500m. At the 2018 Commonwealth Games trials he was magnificent, tallying a PB score of 8229, the best score by an Aussie for 20 years. Unfortunately, he injured his elbow after the trials, putting his participation in doubt. But he rallied for the Games, took his place and managed to complete in the competition achieving a score of 7983 and was well rewarded with bronze. 

In 2019 Cedric was magnificent, scoring over 8000 points in three competitions including placing 11th at the world championships – the highest ever by an Australian. He won the 2020 national title before COVID closed down the year. Then in late 2020 he scored his tally of 8367 to earn selection for his second Olympics, the delayed Tokyo 2020 Games. 

@ November 2023 david.tarbotton@athletics.org.au

World Athletics Profile https://worldathletics.org/search/?q=cedric%20dubler