The combined population of Allora, Queensland and Ramona, Oklahoma is less than two thousand people. But what these small towns lack in size they more than make up for in discus pedigree. On Sunday, Allora’s favourite son Matthew Denny set what would have been a new discus world record with a monster throw in Ramona, only for Lithuanian rival Mykolas Alekna to twice extend the record in the same meet.
Despite being upstaged by Alekna, Denny’s 74.78m throw – a personal best and new Oceania record – cements the Queenslander’s status amid rarefied throwing company. At last year’s Paris Olympics, Denny won bronze – the first medal for an Australian man in a Games throwing event. His improvement since suggests Denny is not done yet.
