By Dominique Tassell
Matthew Denny, the 25-year-old Allora local and two-time Olympian, has qualified for the finals tomorrow.
Matt threw 65.13m, the longest throw ever by an Australian at the Olympics.
The throw fell just short of his personal best of 66.15m, which he threw at trials on the Gold Coast.
This comes after a tough training period leading up to the Olympics, after Matt suffered a serious rib injury in October last year that set him back a few months.
Olympic trials were a chance to see how the team was progressing, and Matt said he was happy with how his body adapted after his injuries, and with how his team adjusted throughout the process.
Matt qualified in June, and at the time said it was “good to get it all confirmed”.
The Tokyo experience hasn’t been without bumps in the road, as the entire athletics team was forced to go into lockdown for two hours on Thursday 29 July after a member of the American athletics team tested positive to Covid-19.
It was later confirmed by the Australian Olympic Committee that three athletes had reported fleeting contact with the American athlete, and that they had undergone testing and returned negative results.
The other athletes on the team were cleared to return to their regular routines.
Matt has a huge amount of support behind him, both from his hometown of Allora and in Brisbane.
His friends were watching today from Brisbane, having organised a “viewing party” months ago to support him.
Matt says he hopes to inspire younger kids, and wants them to know they can achieve these things when they’re from a small town.
Matt says he’s been asked if this is it, but confirms he’s not slowing down anytime soon. He wants to make five Olympics, so there’s plenty more to come from him yet.
