Allora discus thrower Matthew Denny locks in Olympic final with record throw

The Allora discus thrower earned his place among the world’s best by breaking an Australian Olympic record. Now, there’s only a few contenders between the athlete and a gold medal.

TOKYO, JAPAN - JULY 30: Matthew Denny of Team Australia competes in the Men's Discus Throw Qualification on day seven of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Olympic Stadium on July 30, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

UPDATE: Allora athlete Matthew Denny has locked in a place in an Olympic final this weekend, putting him one step closer to becoming an Olympic medallist.

The 25-year-old placed third in the men’s discus Group A qualifying round on Friday, behind Daniel Ståhl of Sweden and Andrius Gudžius of Lithuania.

Denny’s best throw of the day was 65.13, which may have fallen short of his personal best but broke the record for the longest discus throw by an Australian at Olympic level.

The 25-year-old will compete in the men’s discus final at 9.15pm AEST Saturday.

EARLIER: Discus thrower Matthew Denny has already claimed the title of the first Allora-born Olympian, and this week he is launching his campaign to become the Southern Downs town’s first medallist.

The 25-year-old will compete in Group A of the men’s discus qualifying round at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics at 10.45am AEST on Friday, fighting for a place in the final on Saturday night.

While he’s no stranger to the international sporting stage, Denny’s journey to a spot in the Tokyo Games was far from an easy one.

Covid shut down almost all competitive sport during 2020, and when it finally returned in December last year a busted rib prevented Denny from qualifying despite being in “the best form of his life”.

Finally booking his ticket to this year’s Olympics with a qualifying throw on the Gold Coast last month before competing at the Festival of Athletics in Townsville, Denny told the Townsville Bulletin he hoped the lead-up would put him at his mental and physical peak.

“It’s about continuously competing and working on my throwing in competition … it is definitely different to the way you throw in training,” he said.

Olympian Matt Denny with athletes from Warwick's Little Athletics in 2020. Picture: Emily Clooney / Warwick Daily News

“The paces are ramped up when you’re competing … it is about the neural adaptation, it helps with getting used to that kind of feeling ahead of the Olympics.”

The Allora athlete represented his community and country at the Olympic level for the first time in 2016 at Rio de Janeiro, where he missed out on making the finals.

Denny went on to place fourth in the discus and win silver in the hammer throw at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, and finished sixth at the 2019 World Championships in Doha.

Returning to his hometown whenever he can around his rigorous training demands, the whole Allora and Southern Downs communities have thrown their support behind Denny’s 2020 Olympics campaign.

“All the best from Allora - go Matthew!”, resident Ellie Clark commented on social media.

“I will be cheering for you and watching like a hawk! Good luck Matt,” wrote fellow resident Maria Wheatley.

Denny’s Olympic campaign will begin only days after the Southern Downs celebrated Warwick rower Harriet Hudson’s bronze medal win in the women’s quad sculls on Wednesday.

Originally published as Allora discus thrower Matthew Denny locks in Olympic final with record throw