Olympian Matt Denny smashed his personal best for the third time in a week and set a new discus world record only to have his main rival launch the discus even further as their rivalry intensified.
Competing at the Oklahoma Throws Series World Invitational on Sunday, at a venue with favourable tailwinds, Denny, an Olympic bronze medallist, hurled the disc a mammoth 74.78m.
That passed the mark of 74.35m set by Lithuanian powerhouse Mykolas Alekna at the same event last year, a throw which broke a world record which stood since 1986.
But Queenslander Denny didn’t have long to revel in his own stunning achievement as 22-year-old Alekna, an Olympic silver medallists, pulled out two more monster throws.
He passed Denny with a throw of 74.89m first-up, then pushed the world record out even further by throwing 75.56m in the fourth round.
Denny had chosen to compete in the event in the US instead of the Australian championships in Perth, with justified results.
Last week he became the first Australian to crash through the 70-metre barrier and continued to improve his personal best throws and he now looms as one of Australia’s leading gold-medal hopes at September’s world titles in Tokyo.
https://thewest.com.au/news/matt-denny-broke-the-discus-world-record-only-to-have-his-rival-better-the-mark-at-the-same-event-c-18364944
