Source : ABC NEWS
Australia’s Olympic bronze medallist Matthew Denny has begun his Diamond League campaign with a victory in the men’s discus in Doha.
Denny threw 68.97 metres in the final round to clinch the win ahead of Sweden’s Daniel Ståhl (67.06m) and Slovenian Kristjan Čeh (66.92m).
“I was very happy out there tonight,” Denny said.
“The goal at the moment is doing whatever is required to win.
“I didn’t know what to expect from myself tonight having come off a heavy training block and getting off the plane.
“It’s always a weird dynamic when you go into that last round in the lead and then have to throw first, but I was able to go out there and get my best mark of the night and that’s all I can ask for.”
Denny had led the competition with 67.33m in the opening round.
Amid windy conditions, the field was narrowed down to Denny, Ståhl and Čeh by the final round.
Ståhl, the 2020 Olympic gold medallist and two-time world champion, fouled when his final attempt went into the netting.
Čeh, the 2022 world champion, could only manage 66.40m with his final throw.
Denny arrived in Doha in peak form after setting an Australian record of 74.78m in Ramona, Oklahoma last month.
He is second on the global all-time list behind Lithuanian Mykolas Alekna, who threw a world record of 75.56m at the same meet in Ramona.
“It was pretty tough coming home after that competition, if I’m honest,” Denny said.
“That 74, it levelled me. My first session back, I felt like I forgot how to throw, I was so fatigued.
“There were a lot of emotions in achieving that mark but then being pipped by Mykolas Alekna bettering the world record … but we had to do some training to set us up for the next six weeks.
“There’s momentum there but I didn’t know what to expect today in regards to distance and whether it would be enough.”
