Australian decathlete Ashley Moloney is destined to become “one of the greatest athletes on the planet” following his heroics at Tokyo, according to his coach Eric Brown.
Moloney created history by becoming Australia's first medallist in an Olympic decathlon, taking bronze at Tokyo's National Stadium on Thursday night (AEST).
The 21-year-old’s performance also earned Australia its first medal of the athletics program in Tokyo.
Brown has labelled the 21-year-old “a freak of nature” and a “once in a lifetime athlete”.
“To see someone like this emerge … he’s just a freak of nature, he’s something else, you wait for one of these kids for your entire life when you’re a coach,” Brown said on SEN Breakfast.
“It was monumental, that performance by a 21-year-old is just unheard of, you don’t win medals at that age and that particular event.”
According to Brown, Moloney was destined to become one of the “greatest decathletes the country has ever seen” at the ripe age of 15.
“He came to me as a 15-year-old ... and I said to Ash would you like to become a decathlete because I think you’ll be one of the greatest decathletes the country has ever seen,” Brown said.
French decathlete Kevin Mayer is the current world record holder in the event with 9,126 points, but Brown feels a sense of inevitability that Moloney will hold that record in the not too distant future.
“He’ll break Mayers world record within a year or two, that’s how good this kid is, he’s a superstar and I think the whole world has been alerted to that last night,” Brown declared.
Moloney finished the two-day event with an Australian record of 8,649 points ahead of Garrett Scantling from the US who finished fourth on 8,611.