Moloney breaks national decathlon record
Ash Moloney has underlined his status as a rising star of Australian athletics after breaking a long-standing national decathlon record.
The 2018 world junior champion, Moloney collected 8492 points on his way to beating Jagan Hames' Australian mark that has stood since 1998.
Moloney's effort ensured he earned qualification for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and Cedric Dubler will join him on the team after scoring 8367 points.
He laid the foundation for his record at the Queensland Combined Events Championship in Brisbane with a points-scoring spree on the first day.
Moloney produced lifetime bests in the four of Saturday's five events, with his 400m run a standout.
In posting 45.82 seconds, Moloney put himself in elite company as the third fastest of all-time in a decathlon.
Only Olympic champions Ashton Eaton (45.00s) and Bill Toomey (45.68s) have been faster than Moloney who turns 21 in March.
