Matthew Denny

Matthew Denny (born 2 June 1996) is an Australian athlete specialising in the discus throw.[3] He qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and competed in the final having thrown 65.13 m in his Men's discus throw qualification. He came very close to a medal, throwing 67.02 m which was just 0.05 m less than the bronze medalist, Lukas Weißhaidinger of Austria.[4][5]

Mathew Denny
Denny in 2018
Personal information
Nickname(s)Matty
NationalityAustralian
Born (1996-06-02) 2 June 1996
Toowoomba, Australia
EducationToowoomba Grammar School,[1] Griffith University
Height1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)[2]
Weight120 kg (265 lb)
Sport
SportAthletics
Event(s)Discus throw, hammer throw
Medal record
Representing  Australia
Diamond League
First place2023Discus Throw
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place2022 BirminghamDiscus throw
Silver medal – second place2018 Gold CoastHammer throw

Early years

Denny grew up in the small town of Allora (population 1000), located 60 km outside Toowoomba and 150 km south-west of Brisbane. He had plenty of space to throw things. For example, in Grade 1 at primary school he threw bean bags as shot puts and vortexes as javelins. His main focus, though, until grade 8 or 9, was rugby league. Denny was one of eight siblings and just wanted to be as good as his rugby-playing brothers.[6]

In his teens Denny turned his attention to athletics and built a homemade discus circle on his family's rural property. In 2013, he won the World Under 18 Youth Championships discus title and then came fourth at the 2014 Under 20 World Junior Championships. He then won a silver medal at the 2015 Summer Universiade.[6]

Achievements

In April 2016, Denny won the national discus title with a throw of 60.47m and the hammer title with 68.44m.[7] He became just the second athlete in the near 100-year history of the event to win this double and the first since Keith Pardon in 1953 – 63 years earlier.  

Denny represented his country in the discus at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro without qualifying for the final. Denny then competed at the Commonwealth Games trials in February 2018. With just 14 hours separating the hammer and discus events, he required just one valid hammer throw to claim the title and automatic Commonwealth Games selection. Denny also won the discus. With selection in both events, he became the second Australian athlete, and first in 68 years, to compete in both events at the Commonwealth Games, following Keith Pardon who competed in the same pair at the 1938 and 1950 Empire Games.[6]

In February 2020 in Wellington New Zealand, Denny threw a personal best of 65.47m. In March 2021 he won the national title with 63.88m, but still remained short of the Olympic standard. In June 2021 on the Gold Coast, Queensland he qualified with a 68cm personal best of 66.15m which moved him from fifth to third Australian all-time.[6]

His personal best in discus is 68.24 m set in Budapest in 2023. His personal best in the hammer throw is 74.88 m set in Gold Coast in 2018.

International competitions
YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventNotes
Representing  Australia
2013 World Youth Championships Donetsk, Ukraine 1st Discus throw (1.5 kg) 67.54 m
3rd Hammer throw (5 kg) 78.67 m
2014 World Junior Championships Eugene, United States 4th Discus throw (1.75 kg) 62.73 m
23rd (q) Hammer throw (6 kg) 69.16 m
2015 Universiade Gwangju, South Korea 2nd Discus throw 62.58 m
2016 Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 19th (q) Discus throw 61.16 m
2018 Commonwealth Games Gold Coast, Australia 4th Discus throw 62.53 m
2nd Hammer throw 74.88 m
2019 Universiade Naples, Italy 1st Discus throw 65.27 m
World Championships Doha, Qatar 6th Discus throw 65.43 m
2021 Olympic Games Tokyo, Japan 4th Discus throw 67.02 m
2022 World Championships Eugene, Oregon 6th Discus throw 66.47 m
Commonwealth Games Birmingham, England 1st Discus throw 67.26 m PB
2023 World Championships Budapest, Hungary 4th Discus throw 68.24 m NR

References
  1. "Congratulations to TGS Old Boy and Australian Olympian Matt Denny (2011-13)" (PDF). Omnibus. Toowoomba Grammar School: 30. August 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 March 2018. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  2. "Mathew Denny". Official Site of the 2016 Australian Olympic Team. Australian Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 18 July 2016.
  3. Matthew Denny at World Athletics
  4. "Heartbreak as Aussie misses medal by just 5cm". wwos.nine.com.au. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
  5. readJuly 31, rewMcMurtryless than 2 min; 2021 - 9:52pm (30 July 2021). "Tokyo Olympics live updates: Day 8". news. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
  6. "Matthew Denny". Australian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
  7. "Matthew DENNY Honours Summary". World Athletics. Honours. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
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