A huge throw elevated Matthew Denny into rarefied air on Sunday as the discus athlete recorded the fifth longest effort of all time while becoming the first Australian to eclipse the 70m mark at the Oklahoma Throws series in the US.
Denny, who won a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics last year, smashed his previous personal best and national record of 69.96m set in the Diamond League final last year with a throw of 72.07m at the event in Ramona.
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His winning throw – as well as the 71.12m he later recorded in the final round – would have been enough to win gold at the Paris Games.
“I’m very, very proud of myself and my team and what we’ve been able to achieve today,” he said. “We’re finally over the 70-metre mark and we did it in pretty solid fashion, so it’s really satisfying, but also, the job isn’t done yet.
“We came here for one reason and that was for the world record. I think this was a great shakeout off the plane and nice to get a bit of a feel for the place before competing at the World Invitational next week, but at the end of the day I’m still very proud to finally get over that mark and do that before the big competition.”
Just Lithuania’s world record-holder Mykolas Alekna, Jürgen Schult of East Germany, Virgilijus Alekna, also of Lithuania, and Estonia’s Gerd Kanter have thrown further than Denny.
The 28-year-old will remain the US this week before next weekend’s Oklahoma Throws series world invitational, where he will be able to challenge Alekna’s mark of 74.35m – set at the same event before the Olympics last year.
“With this PB, it’s nice to finally put myself with where I think my training has been, and I’ve just never been really fortunate to get good conditions without tailwinds when I’ve been in good shape,” Denny said.
Denny’s journey to the upper echelons of world athletics has been remarkable; he grew up in the small Queensland town of Allora near Toowoomba, population 1,000, launching bean bags as shot puts but mostly playing rugby league until his teenage years.
Once his focus shifted, he practised on a homemade discus circle at his family home, before going on to win multiple youth championships and later, the national title, two Diamond League titles and Commonwealth Games gold in 2022.
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“Looking at where I’ve come from and for a kid that just started with a circle in a country town, to then come to another country town across the other side of the world and go back to roots and break milestones,” he said. “It shows that you don’t need all the fancy stuff, you just need a bit of grit and a bit of determination.”
Denny dedicated his latest achievement to his father, who passed away last year after watching his son claim a first Olympic medal.
“This one was for Dad. He was a country guy who just did it anyway and got the job done no matter what the circumstances were,” Denny said. “It keeps me accountable to just not complain and just get the job done.”
