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It is not every day that Australian track and field teams finish ahead of the mighty USA on the medal tally, so when it happens, it is something to celebrate.
Australia has finished fourth at the World Youth Championship in Donetsk, Ukraine with three gold and one bronze behind the athletic powerhouse countries of Jamaica, Kenya and Ethiopia.
Australia’s Matthew Denny kept up the stellar throwing results for Australia this year by winning bronze in the hammer throw with a 78.67 metre effort on Friday .
Using this as inspiration for his pet event on Sunday July 14, he launched the discus a massive 67.54 metres to take the gold in a world leading and personal best effort.
Germany’s shot put silver medallist, Henning Prufer, set the early pace with a throw of 65.62 metres in the first round which held the lead until the fourth round when Denny produced his winning throw.
The Australian, from the Darling Downs in Queensland, was spared the agony of seeing the gold snatched from him as Prufer did not improve on his opening mark and fouled his fourth and sixth round attempts.
“I am on top of the world,” Denny told the Athletics Australia website after his victory.
“Henning got the first one on me straight out so I had a bit of pressure but I came out and got my PB, that’s what any thrower wants to do. And to do that in a final is the best thing I could have asked for.”
Meanwhile, in the sprint events at the championships, Jamaica looks to remain the dominant force in the lead up to the 2016 Olympics with yet another star in the making.
Michael O’Hara may be a name you will hear a lot of in Rio de Janiero in three years’ time, as he took out the 200 metres in a world youth best time of 20.63 seconds. This the fastest time by a Jamaican junior or youth since Usain Bolt ran 19.93 as a 17 year old.
Their relay teams should also continue to the ones chased home until Rio as the youth quartet took the gold in the medley relay, from arch rivals USA, in a World Youth Best time of 1minute 4.23 seconds.