Toowoomba, Darling Downs Olympian Matt Denny to speak at Future Toowoomba luncheon

He came within 5cm of winning a medal in Tokyo — now Matt Denny is speaking at a special luncheon that could help secure opportunities for Toowoomba ahead of the Brisbane Olympics. Get tickets here.

Matthew Denny, discus thrower, will be a speaker at the Future Toowoomba luncheon.Photo Annette Dew

From humble beginnings growing up in Allora, discus thrower Matt Denny turned hard work, a bit of luck and pure determination into two Olympic Games campaigns and a Commonwealth Games silver medal.

Now he wants to make sure more rural kids get the chance to fulfill their Olympic dreams — and it starts by building proper sporting infrastructure in Toowoomba.

“There was no real avenue for me, it was all just self-drive and dedication,” he said.

“I wouldn’t be the athlete I am without the process, but in saying that if we are focused to get more rural athletes to the Olympics and have a higher success rate, that process has to be put in.

“There are a lot of people who didn’t have the right pathway or support to get where they wanted.

“Rural communities don’t have the facilities that they deserve, so I’m passionate about bringing elite sport and education services to rural areas.”

Mr Denny is one of the guest speakers at The Chronicle’s Future Toowoomba luncheon on December 3 at Wellcamp Airport, alongside five-time Olympian Nat Cook.

After coming within 5cm of an Olympic medal at Tokyo earlier this year, Mr Denny said he wanted to see other young stars experience the feeling of representing their country.

He said proper sporting infrastructure that could host state and national track and field meets needed to be a priority.

“Toowoomba needs an actual athletics track that’s accessible for everyone,” Mr Denny said.

“We have Glennie but it’s getting quite old, so we need a public track similar to QSAC where we can bring international camps over, an area where people can actually train and compete.

“My coach worked at Toowoomba Grammar, and I ended up going to Grammar to train so I could get access to elite equipment.

“If I didn’t have any of those opportunities, I wouldn’t be where I am right now.

“If you’re able to train on actual tartan, competitions can come to Toowoomba rather than us going out to other places.”

Mr Denny said Toowoomba’s key community leaders needed to make it easy for other national teams to be able to set up camp in the city, saying some countries could be willing to pay to upgrade infrastructure.

“These are the best sportspeople on the planet and everyone’s here to come and enjoy the spectacle — it’s not just that host city, it’s the surrounding areas as well,” he said.

“There is potential investment from other countries, so for example if the Swedish national hockey team wants to come to Toowoomba and they need an exclusive base camp, there are heaps of chances to build infrastructure that could be used after the games.”

The Future Toowoomba: Our Golden Opportunity luncheon will be held at Toowoomba Wellcamp Airport on December 3 from 11.30am.

For tickets, head to the website.