Denny eyes first world c'ship medal in company of friendly discus rivals

Australian discus king Matthew Denny is chasing his first World Athletics Championships medal in Tokyo and will do it alongside the man he regards as both the benchmark and a drinking buddy: world record holder Mykolas Alekna.

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Denny and the 22-year-old Lithuanian took the sport to new heights with the benefit of tailwinds at an event in Ramona, Oklahoma, in April and will battle again at Japan National Stadium this weekend.

“We're vicious competitors and there’s banter — but we're not vicious in tongue,” Denny told Reuters of his relationship with Alekna.

“He’s a good kid. He was very quiet when he first hit the Diamond League (DL), but I've brought him out of his shell a bit. We went out after the Brussels DL, had a few beers — fun night.

“Some guys mix, some don’t. For us, we've got a great relationship.”

At “Throw Town” in Ramona, Alekna smashed his own world record with a heave of 75.56m, which triggered some questions about the venue’s engineered design.

Unlike track events and the horizontal jumps, discus has no limits on wind assistance when validating records.