World Athletics Championships: The latest news and analysis from Budapest 2023

Aussie discus star Matt Denny has been in a similar position, but the Queenslander could not hide his disappointment as his record-breaking performance in Budapest still fell short.

Peter Bol (L) and Joseph Deng. Picture: Getty

It’s a predicament Matt Denny unfortunately knows too well.

Two years ago at the Tokyo Olympics he threw out of his skin in the men’s discus throw final only to finish fourth.

At the Budapest world championships Denny broke the Australian record but again finished fourth.

“I am not going to bull**** people into being happy with fourth because I’m not,” Denny said. “I’m here to win majors, make history and those kinds of things.

“People can say I’m hard on myself but that’s the game we’re in, winning was the goal, that was the aim and we knew that was going to coincide with a national record but I just wish we could have lengthened it.

“I should be happy with the national record but I couldn’t be more annoyed with coming fourth.

“It’s a weird one you might as well take the same quotes from Tokyo I guess.”

Matthew Denny just missed out on the medals in Budapest. (Photo by Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP)

The 27-year-old Queenslander threw 68.24m on his fourth attempt in the final to get past Benn Harradine’s Australian record of 68.20m which he set in Townsville in 2013.

But he was unable to improve it with his final two throws which put him out of the placings by 61cm.

Sweden’s Daniel Stahl took gold with a championships record 71.46m from Slovenia’s Kristjan Ceh (70.02m) and Lithuania’s Mykolas Alekna (68.85m).

“Daniel (Stahl) said to me afterwards, to throw 68.24 and to miss out on a medal is insane,” Denny said.

“I’m pretty sure it is one of the biggest non medalling throws ever which hows the depth of men’s discus at the moment.”

While Denny was left to rue the one that got away, his teammate Nina Kennedy was full of confidence after the qualifying round of the women’s pole vault.

Last year’s world championships bronze medallist had no issues getting through with an easy clearance over 4.65m to book a spot in Thursday morning’s final (3.30am AEST).

“I wanted to clear with my first attempts and I did it so happy days,” Kennedy said.

“Technically it felt a bit interesting. ’65 is the highest we have ever had to jump to get into the final. If you look closely it’s slightly sloped down (the runway) so girls were jumping out of their skin tonight.

“That is potentially very good but also it shows it’s bringing everyone else up. These girls were jumping PB’s out there and it was a qualification. It’s fast, it’s hot and there will be some big heights in the final.”

Kennedy will look to add the world title to her Commonwealth title. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

Kennedy, who also defended her Commonwealth title last year, has noticed a different approach from her rivals after her world championships medal in Eugene.

“The processes are the same but the belief I have in myself is a lot different,” Kennedy said. “I went to the world’s last year hoping to do my best and now I am coming into these worlds wanting to win. It’s no secret I want to be on that podium and at the top.

“The other girls, we are interacting differently and now they do see me as a threat.”

Olympic gold or tradie? Star’s quit threat

He’s the reluctant star who according to his coach is good enough to win Olympic gold depending on which Joseph Deng turns up on the day.

The puzzle that is Australia’s 800m record holder will take another twist in Budapest this week when he makes his major championships debut alongside former flatmate Peter Bol.

While Bol has captured the hearts and minds of Australia over the past two years, Deng has been unsighted, falling in and out of love for the sport.

Even back in February he told his coach Justin Rinaldi that he was chucking it in to work as a tradie.

“Some days he has got no motivation and said to me ‘I think I might go and get a job as a tradie with my friends’,” Rinaldi recalls. “I was like ‘Go do it mate, you will last a week when you see how hard that is’.

“He didn’t do it but he just struggles for motivation and doesn’t understand why sometimes.”

Deng first burst to prominence in 2018 when he broke the Australian record which had stood for 50 years, running 1min44.21sec to go under Ralph Doubell’s time from the 1968 Mexico Olympics.

He then drifted away after injury hit. As Rinaldi puts it: “He has literally been sporadic for the last four years, he’ll train and then he’ll disappear”.

Peter Bol (L) and Joseph Deng. Picture: Getty

Deng and Bol are like brothers and have shared a similar path coming to Australia from Sudan, landing in Queensland before eventually finding their way to Melbourne to pursue a running career.

They enjoy each other’s success although Deng was absent when Bol, who by this stage had taken ownership of the national record, memorably won his semi-final before finishing fourth at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

The pair were together last month when Deng, 25, stole back the record, clocking 1:43.99sec in France. Bol wasn’t in the race but celebrated with his mate before going on to run a personal best in the 1500m a few minutes later.

“I think you probably saw after Joe broke Pete’s record, Pete was just as happy for him as anyone,” Rinaldi said. “He was jumping up and down and then had to go back to his own race.

“I think Pete naturally gets frustrated with him too, he feels like he helps Joe as much as he can but then Joe disappears and probably lets us all down so I think Pete gets a bit frustrated by that too like we all do.

“But when they are together and are running well they’re so supportive of each other. There is no rivalry between them as I think they both realise that the Australian record isn’t that good so there is no point getting too precious about it.

“They need to keep breaking it and get it down to low 1:43s before they can really be precious about it.”

Rinaldi has no idea what to expect from Deng in the 800m heats (3.20am Wednesday AEST). He could run last or he could break the record again.

“I have coached Pete and Pete has come fourth in the Olympics and I think Joe has got little bit more talent than Pete so in my mind he could win the Olympics if he put all of his eggs in the one basket for 12 months,” he said.

“Again the athlete has got to want to do that, it can’t be me forcing them. I’m hoping the penny drops one day and he comes out and shows himself what he can do.

“It’s kind of weird, he’s 25 but in terms of training years he hasn’t done anything pretty much in the last five years so he has got a lot of running left in him but he has to make his own mind up.”

Originally published as World Athletics Championships: The latest news and analysis from Budapest 2023