Australian discus thrower Matthew Denny has shattered his own national record with a massive throw of 72.07m at the Oklahoma Throws series in the United States. The 28-year-old, who won bronze at the Paris Olympics last year, became the first Australian to surpass the 70m mark, recording the fifth longest throw in history.
Denny's winning effort at the event in Ramona, Oklahoma, eclipsed his previous personal best and national record of 69.96m set in the Diamond League final last year. He also threw 71.12m in the final round, a distance that would have won gold at the Paris Games.
“I’m very, very proud of myself and my team and what we’ve been able to achieve today,” Denny 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.”
Only four men have thrown further than Denny: world record-holder Mykolas Alekna of Lithuania, Jürgen Schult of East Germany, Virgilijus Alekna of Lithuania, and Estonia’s Gerd Kanter. Denny will compete next weekend at the Oklahoma Throws world invitational, where he hopes to challenge Alekna's world record of 74.35m.
Denny, who grew up in the small Queensland town of Allora, dedicated his achievement to his late father, who died last year after watching his son win an 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.
