Olympic and World Champions descended on Doha last Friday for the Opening of the 2023 Wanda Diamond League Season.
This is the start of the international Athletics Season which brings together the world’s biggest names in track and field, including eight Australians led by a distance duo and a discus giant in the form of Allora’s Matthew Denny.
Matthew stamped his presence when throwing a seasons best of 64.42m to finish in fourth place of the Men’s Discus, edged out of a podium position in the fifth round by Sam Mattis of USA.
With the competition won by Slovenia’s Kristjan Ceh with a mark of 70.89m, Matthew’s best effort came in the third round to propel himself into third place, before his United States rival put competition ahead of friendship when bettering the Australian by 27cm.
The result adds three centimetres to Matthew’s seasons best from February’s Adelaide Invitational and stands as the second highest finish of his career on the Diamond League circuit.
Footnote – in case anyone wants to visit Doha – it’s the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar.
Doha has an urban population of over one million and is Qatar’s fastest growing city.
This article appeared in the Allora Advertiser, 10 May 2023.
