From Jimboomba to Tokyo
Olympian Ashley Moloney is our Sportsperson of the Year
Tokyo Olympics decathlon hero and Jimboomba Little Athletics product, Ashley Moloney, was named the City of Logan’s 2021 Sportsperson and Sportsman of the Year at the City of Logan Sports Awards in November.
Ashley says he feels honoured to receive the recognition in the place where his athletic career began.
“It’s hard to put into words… I wasn’t expecting it at all, especially two (awards), but I’m stoked,” he says.
“Jimboomba Little Athletics was the starting point of my career, I reckon if I didn’t go to Jimboomba I wouldn’t be a decathlete – it’s where I started pole vault.”
Ashley’s gutsy run in the final event of the decathlon, the 1500 metres, secured him a bronze medal and a place in Australian sporting history as the country’s first Olympic decathlon medallist.
“Honestly, my mind was racing (during the 1500 metre),” Ashley says.
He says his advice to aspiring sportspeople in the City of Logan is simple.
“When approaching anything in life, you’ve got to take the first step… (though) sometimes the first step is the hardest,” he says.
Slacks Creek boxer Shannon ‘Shotgun’ O’Connell was named the 2021 City of Logan Sportswoman of the Year.
She won a WBA (World Boxing Association) gold title in March and retained her Commonwealth Female Bantamweight title in October.
Shannon is ranked fourth in the world for women’s bantamweight boxing.
Mayor Darren Power says the City of Logan has a rich sporting heritage.
“Sport plays a vital role in our communities; it teaches our children teamwork and responsibility, and it provides lifelong social connections for people of all ages,” he says.
The winners of the 2021 City of Logan Sports Awards were:
- Sports Official of the Year – Aleisha Neumann, Marsden State High School
- Sports Administrator of the Year – Brian Roberts, Logan Brothers
- Sports Coach of the Year – Edward Dimmack, Logan City Speed Skating Club
- Sports Team of the Year – Marsden State High School Rugby League
- Sports Event of the Year – Griffith Sport Logan Fun Run
- Sports Organisation of the Year – Logan Basketball
- Young Sportsman of the Year – Connor Gillen, Muaythai Mulisha
- Young Sportswoman of the Year – Losa Niumata, Brisbane North Cougars
- Master Sportsperson of the Year – Marion Hermitage, Multisport Gold Triathlon Club
- Elite Athlete with a Disability – Andre Rivett, Queensland Athletics
- Sportswoman of the Year – Shannon O’Connell, Boxing
- Sportsman of the Year – Ashley Moloney
- Sportsperson of the Year – Ashley Moloney
- Judges’ Choice Awards – o Tristram Peters, Football Queensland (category – Elite Athlete with a Disability)
- o Trudy Bartlett, Marsden State High School (category – Sports Coach of the Year)
Golden Banksia Award winners:
- Ashley Moloney – Tokyo Olympics, Athletics – Decathlon (bronze medallist)
- Logan Martin – Tokyo Olympics, BMX (gold medallist)
- Mollie O’Callaghan – Tokyo Olympics, Swimming (two gold, one bronze in relay events)
- Genevieve Gregson – Tokyo Olympics, Athletics (3000 metre Steeplechase Final)
