Matthew Denny

Matthew Denny (born 2 June 1996) is an Australian athlete specialising in the discus throw. He won the bronze medal in the men's discus throw at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Early life Denny grew up in the small Queensland town of Allora (population 1000), located 60 km outside Toowoomba and 150 km south-west of Brisbane. He had plenty of space to throw things. For example, in Grade 1 at primary school he threw bean bags as shot puts and vortexes as javelins. His main focus, though, until grade 8 or 9, was rugby league. Denny was one of eight siblings and just wanted to be as good as his rugby-playing brothers.

In his teens Denny turned his attention to athletics and built a homemade discus circle on his family's rural property. In 2013, he won the World Under 18 Youth Championships discus title and then came fourth at the 2014 Under 20 World Junior Championships. He then won a silver medal at the 2015 Summer Universiade. He became just the second athlete in the near 100-year history of the event to win this double and the first since Keith Pardon in 1953 – 63 years earlier.

Denny represented Australia in the discus throw at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. At the 2018 Commonwealth Games held in Brisbane, Australia, Denny competed in both the discus and hammer throw events, coming second in the hammer throw with a PB of 74.88 metres and fourth in the discus throw. He was the second Australian athlete, and first in 68 years, to compete in both events at the Commonwealth Games, following Keith Pardon who competed in the same pair at the 1938 and 1950 Empire Games.

Denny won gold in the discus throw at the 2022 Commonwealth Games with a PB of 67.26 m (all five of his other throws were over 65.25 m). He won the 2023 Diamond League Final.

In the Paris 2024 Olympics, Denny secured the bronze medal in the men's discus throw with a throw of 69.31 meters, earning a spot on the podium alongside gold medalist Rojé Stona and silver medalist Mykolas Alekna. He then threw a meeting record 69.96m to win the 2024 Diamond League final in Brussels, Belgium.

Denny set a new Australian and Oceanian record of 72.07 metres at a meet on 6 April 2025 at the Seal Throwing Club LLC / Throw Town, Ramona, Oklahoma, USA, the 5th longest discus throw in history. All five of his other throws were over 69 metres.

On 10 April 2025 Denny threw 74.25 m at the Oklahoma Throws Series, just 10cm shy of the world record, and, with a series of 71.03m, 73.46m, 74.25, 72.93m, 71.14m and 73.56m, he achieved a series average of 72.72 m, the best in history. Three days later at the same field, he bettered his own Oceania record with a 74.78m, but fell short of Mykolas Alekna's new world record of 75.56m. His mark still places him second all-time today.

International competitions