Sally Pearson: Matt Denny going ‘balls to the wall’ for Olympic discus gold

An Aussie athletics star is out to prove he is the best in the world after suffering the most heartbreaking result imaginable at the Olympics.

Sally Pearson and Matt Denny.

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Imagine training your whole life for a moment that might not actually happen.

Well now imagine placing fourth in an event that is measured by millimetres.

Well, for Matt Denny, he finally realised that ultimate dream and then fell agonisingly close to a medal.

In fact it was so close, and to put it in relative terms, it was almost the width of a beer can. Matt missed out on an Olympic medal in Tokyo by 5cm. The average beer can width is 6cm wide.

He told me before his events kicked off at the Paris Olympics: “I still think about that and my thoughts and moods about it.

“In the grand scheme of things and throwing that far and how competitive it is, its like coming fourth in the 100m by 1/1000ths of a second.

“You can b*tch and moan about it, I was so unlucky. No-one cares you didn’t throw far enough and that’s fine”.

Three years later and Denny still has some fight in him and has come out swinging or in Discus terms - spinning - with a huge throw, putting a warning out to the world and his fellow competitors that he means business.

Earlier this year at the Australian National Champs in Adelaide, Denny threw an enormous Australian record of 69.35m, that is almost the same width of a rugby seven’s field which is 70m.

Sally Pearson knows what it takes to win Olympic gold.

Matt Denny is a big medal chance in the discus. (Photo by Sarah Reed/Getty Images)

On Monday night (AEST) he qualified for the men’s discus final at the Paris Olympics by clearing the automatic qualifying distance of 66m with a throw off 66.83m.

On Thursday morning (AEST) he will throw for a medal once again.

To win the Olympics you need to fully believe deep down that you can do it without any hesitation.

In London 2012, I had absolutely no doubt that I could win. There really wasn’t any other option for me.

To the general public who have never experienced this type of self belief before might think it sounds arrogant.

For me it was confidence in my ability that I had done absolutely everything I could to win.

I was and still am a fierce competitor and I know that all I had to do was get over the hurdles clean and there was no way I was going to be beaten.

I asked Matt if he thinks he can win and without a second thought he said: “Yes, 100 per cent I can win.

“I never go into a comp thinking I can’t. The goal has been to be the dominant figure in mens discus”.

I believe him. Denny, 28, won gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, but now comes up against the might of the European nations at the Olympics.

Denny is ranked third in the world going into these Games behind the new world record holder Mykolas Alekna from Lithuania who heaved the discus to 74.35m in April this year in Oklahoma.

He is the son of two-time Olympic discus champion Virgilijus Alekna.

Ranked second is Kristjan Ceh from Slovakia who was fifth behind Denny in Tokyo.

You can’t discount the reigning Olympic and World Champion Daniel Stahl from Sweden who is ranked fourth and the Olympic Bronze medallist Lukas Weisshaidinger in fifth.

Lithuania’s Mykolas Alekna broke the world record earlier this year. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

Denny won Commonwealth Games gold. . Picture: Michael Klein

I asked Matt how the throwing world reacted to the world record performance by Alekna, who broke the longest standing men’s athletics record, a record that had stood since 1986.

“I think everyone obviously wanted to be that one to break the record first,” he said.

“Everyone has respect in Mykalos in breaking it but there’s a bit of divide around the throwing community that the high winds that are notorious at this competition have the capability of aiding performances.

“Guys might be able to only throw 63m in a stadium but can come out at this comp and throw 69 metres and qualify.”

Or in this case break a world record.

“I might try and get over to the same meet as the world record next year. It would be fun.”

All of these men are capable of winning the discus in Paris - something Denny understands as he fired a message to his competitors.

“Everyone knows that major champs are a dogfight, just because you’re the favourite doesn’t mean your going to win,” he said.

“I have the capacity and the horsepower to win”.

The Aussie hulk wants to win gold in Paris. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

“Balls to the wall and going full tilt. Doing what’s required. You throw 69 metre, I’m going to throw further. People are scared of big distances because they fully don’t believe they can do it.

“There’s an opportunity that is arriving that doesn’t happen very often. I don’t need to do more or less I just need to do what I’m doing.

“I know there is a really great opportunity and I have the potential that I could do really well, understanding that some good things can happen.

“If I break 70m and I don’t win I’d be annoyed. If I don’t win the gold medal I’d be disappointed.”

If all goes well, Denny will be going for gold in the men’s discus final in the early hours of Thursday, August 7.

Denny can throw nearly 70m. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

It’s going to be tough for the Toowoomba-born athlete who stars in one of Qantas Olympic ads.

Matt grew up in a small town of Allora, where there is a population of 1000 people.

The ad shows him walking into a local pub filled with all the people supporting him before he heads off to the Paris Olympics.

Well, he has all the support from me and the rest of the nation too, and I can usually pick a winner by talking to them, hearing their voice or even just looking into their eyes.

You’d have to go back to the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 when Australia last won a medal in the discus.

It came from Romanian born Daniela Costian who won a bronze medal in the women’s event.

I think Matt Denny has got what it takes to be the best in the world and to bring home the gold for Australia.

Sally Pearson is an Olympic gold medallist and one of Australia’s greatest ever track and field athletes. The former world champ is writing exclusively with news.com.au ahead of the Paris Olympics. She is the last Aussie to win athletics Olympics gold in 2012.

Originally published as Sally Pearson: Matt Denny going ‘balls to the wall’ for Olympic discus gold