DISCUS FOCUS HELPS
ATHLETICS:
People kept telling Matthew Denny he was crazy to do both but when you're a gun discus thrower and also the Commonwealth hammer throw silver medallist, it's not easy to let one go.
The moment he knew was coming arrived in Germany last year when he was entered to do both events at a meeting in Halle.
“I was with my girlfriend and we were travelling and competing,” Denny said. “I was ready to throw far and I was doing both hammer and discus that weekend.
“I did the hammer first and competed, threw OK and then went and did the men’s discus and I was cooked.
“I think I got 11th or 10th, I just said to my girlfriend I think it is time to focus on this because I was getting really disappointed in not performing to the best I knew I could in both.”
It was a smart call, with the Australian champion entering his first world championships discus final tonight as the thirdhighest ranked qualifier.
Denny, 23, threw 65.08m to put his name into the medals mix behind clear favourite Swedish giant Daniel Stahl (67.88m).
“It took me a couple of throws to get into it. I still couldn’t hit a flight even with the 65,” he said.
“It just shows what sort of form I’m in and now it’s about carrying that through to the final and actually hit a flight.”
The Queenslander has consistently threatened his 2016 personal best of 65.37m throughout this season, during which he claimed the World University Games title in July.
He comes to Doha off a solid 10-week training block which has him physically and mentally ready to compete against the world’s best.
“Who knows? (about the final). Hopefully something big that’ll get up there,” Denny said. “I just want to replicate, do the same thing but put some more distance on it.
“Obviously Daniel is the one to beat. I'm definitely not going to be the one to say I’m going to try and beat him.
“The guy is pushing the world record, so if he puts halfdecent throws together he’s beating everyone. I just want to compete, do my best for myself and what the other boys do is what happens.
Denny isn’t ruling out a return to the hammer throw down the track but admits he’s enjoying a less hectic schedule.
“Now I look back and even thinking about it right now, I don’t know how I did it, that double. It was so jam-packed,” he said.