Matt Denny threw the furthest by an Australian at an Olympic Games to qualify for the discus final taking place on Saturday night. The 25-year-old threw 65.13 metres on his second attempt and he progress as the fourth ranked thrower into the 12-man final. The automatic qualifying distance of 66.00m was reached by Sweden’s Daniel Stahl with 66.12m. 

“It was good, it was hot,” Denny told media after the event.  

“I’ve never had a comp at this time of the day, it’s pretty rough putting in quality at this time of the day so I think we’ve done pretty well.” 

Denny, who was missed the final in Rio and then finished sixth at the 2019 World Championships is in great form. He set a personal best of 66.15m in June and will be looking to exceed that and push up the placings in the final.   

“There was a lot of anticipation from me, with the last comp being Doha in 2019 for Worlds. It was a long wait, so that anticipation and finally being able to get out there and do what I do on the world stage. It’s nice to be back! 

Denny’s preparation was impacted by a rib-cartilage injury but he has put that behind him. 

“I guess that’s a testament to my team. We did really well to come back from that and we just refocussed on the Olympics and not going overseas pre-Games, so I did well in getting back to where I wanted to be. Disappointing that they didn’t build on what I was in October but you know, we’re still in good form.” 

To date, the best placing by an Australian man in the discus at the Olympics is Australian record holder Benn Harradine‘s 9th at London 2012. Denny isn’t putting any limitations on what he can achieve. 

“I always say it doesn’t matter what the ranking says coming in, I was ranked 16 coming in and now I’ll probably come out in the top 5 quite easily so it’s just a matter of who performs on the night.” 

Starc set to soar in Sunday’s final 

As Denny was delivering in the discus circle, Brandon Starc way cruising into Sunday night’s high jump final. Starc only missed one jump on his way to clearing 2.28 metres on his first attempt and that was enough for him to progress through to the 13-man final.  

“I only missed one and I put that down to the long wait,” Starc said. “There was a lot of people out there, and a lot of misses and it took a while but other than that, it was all pretty good. I got the job done and I’m looking forward to Sunday.” 

Starc has a season best of 2.33m and is the equal Australian record holder at 2.36m. He was 15th in the Rio 2016 Olympic final, Commonwealth Champion in 2018 and was sixth at the 2019 World Championships.  

“I think looking back to 2018, that was probably the thing that made me successful. My confidence and backing myself, belief. That’s all I needed to do. I know I can jump. It’s about executing my abilities to run up and jump. I mean, it spoke for itself.” 

Personal best for Buckingham on Olympic debut 

The first Australians on the track were 3000m steeplechasers Ed Trippas, Ben Buckingham and Matt Clarke – all making the Olympic debut. 

Buckingham was able to step up to the challenge in the humid conditions to run a personal best of 8:20.95 to finish seventh in heat 3. He positioned himself close to the leaders throughout and was able to respond and dig deep over the final laps. He was originally listed as disqualified but was reinstated.  

“I put myself in that position, and I tried to qualify with a lap to go, and then 200 to go and they were all just too good,” Buckingham said. 

“But I am really happy with how I attacked, how I raced, and stayed calm. And I ran a 4 second PB, so I can’t be unhappy with how I raced that, how I attacked that – and how fast we ran considering the pace we went.  

The 29-year-old ran 8:42 when he was run out in the heats at the 2019 World Championships. 

Buckingham was initially listed as disqualified but he was very happy with the end result of 22nd and achieving the qualifying time for the 2022 World Championships.  

“I’m super happy with how I ran and how I approached the whole campaign. I’m stoked.”  

Clarke, 26, at his first major championships finished 14th in the same heat in 8:42.17.  He was dropped off the pace after around half-way, and then ran his own race from there and fought hard to the end. He will finish his first Olympics ranked 39th. 

Trippas in heat 2 was dropped off the front mid-race and seemed to be struggling in the hot and humid conditions but he hung tough and finished 11th in 8:29.90.  

At just 22 and in his first major international race he showed the determination and potential for a bright future. Trippas only secured the automatic qualification of 8:19.60 hours before the qualification deadline closed so it has been a huge few months following a long preparation. 

Bisset and Mitchell didn’t have the pace today 

There was disappointment for the Australian women in the heats of the 800m. Australian record holder Catriona Bisset was well positioned through the bell and the back straight and was on the shoulder of the leader the home straight with a group of five. But when the pace came on she got a small bump and dropped to fifth. She gave her all but stayed in fifth in 2:01.65. The top three were automatic qualifiers to the semis and after an anxious wait for the final heat she hadn’t done enough to progress with 2:01.16 needed to progress. 

Bisset's Australian record (1:58.09) was the ninth fastest time in the world coming into the Olympics but couldn’t identify where she fell short in reaching the semi-final. 

“I’ve been running really well, I don’t know. I don’t know what happened today,” Bissett told Channel 7.  

“I felt really good I just didn’t have the legs at the finish. We were pushing each other in the last 100, it tripped me up a little bit.” 

Was it just one of these days? “Yeah, I’d say so. I have to think about it.” 

Morgan Mitchell in heat 1 positioned herself well through the first 300m but looked to be working hard to stay in touch at the bell. She left everything on the track over the last 400m but her injury impacted preparation had taken its toll.  

Mitchell was sixth in 2:05.44. A tough result for the Olympic 400m semi-finalist and 800m world championships semi-finalist from 2019. 

Basic in rare company and third fastest Australian at the Olympics 

Hana Basic was the last Australian to compete and what a way to make her Olympic debut. Twelve months ago, she couldn’t have dreamed of being at Tokyo 2020 and then she was running in the final heat drawn next to one of the favourites in Jamaca’s Shericka Jackson. 

Basic got a good start and ran well to the line but looked quite tense, which is not a surprise given the occasion. She was fifth in a time of 11.32sec. The run was slower than her recent personal best of 11.16, and she needed quicker than 11.21 to the semis but the performance can be put in perspective historically.   

Her run was the third fastest ever by an Australian at the Olympics behind Raelene Boyle and Melinda Gainsford-Taylor. It was the fastest time by an Australian in the Olympic 100m for 21 years, since Gainsford-Taylor in 2000.  

The 25-year-old from Melbourne started the season with a best time of 11.63 so she has achieved so much and will be even better for her next major championship. 

First final and four Aussies in action tonight 

The green and gold will be back on the track tonight from 8pm AEST for the heats of the women’s 5000m and Pat Tiernan will race the final of the 10,000m. 

Izzi Batt-Doyle, Rose Davies and Jenny Blundell are the three Australian contenders in the Women's 5000m. Batt-Doyle and Davies qualified in the same race upon their European season debut. Davies clocked her fastest time ever of 15:08.48, with Batt-Doyle winning the Nijmegen race in 15:04.10. Blundell will make her second Olympic appearance in the event, after making the 1500m semi-final in 2016.  

Tiernan headlines night one of Athletics in the only medal event of the day, the 10,000m. The US-based 26-year-old set the Australian record in December, clocking 27:22.55. He is capable of a finishing in the front half of the 25-man field. He was 22nd at the London 2017 World Championships, he other major meet at this distance. The 10,000m final is at 10:40pm AEST. 

Andrew Reid