Matthew Denny's monster discus throw in the USA condemned as 'weather doping'

Matt Denny’s monumental discus throw at a meeting in the United States at the weekend has been put under a cloud following suggestions “weather doping” was behind a slew of records at the event.

The Australian national record-holder, who won bronze at the 2024 Olympics, smashed his personal best three times in a week, the third throw coming at the Continental Tour Bronze event at Ramona, Oklahoma, on Sunday.

Lithuania’s Mykolas Alekna, the 2024 Olympic silver medallist, broke his own world record when he became the first man to pass the 75-metre mark with a throw of 75.56m.

He bettered his own previous mark of 74.35m, set at the same venue last year, having also passed it with his opening throw of 74.89.

Queenslander Denny, 28, also shone, surpassing Alekna’s record from last year with a throw of 74.78m - a new Oceania record - as five men cleared 70 metres at the same event for the first time.

Valarie Allman smashed the United States women’s record with a throw of 73.52m - the longest by a woman for 36 years.

But various Scandinavian commentators and coaches said the extraordinary performances were enabled by the venue’s engineered design, which appears to take advantage of high wind speeds.

Unlike various track events and the horizontal jumps, the discus throw has no restrictions on wind assistance when it comes to validating records and Millican Field in Oklahoma features several throwing circles positioned to help athletes take advantage of the wind direction.

“Mykolas Alekna smashes his own world record with a 75.56 throw in a wind-battered Ramona and I don’t know whether to laugh or cry,” Swedish commentator Mats Wennerholm said.

“It just becomes ridiculous in a competition boosted by gale-force winds. Weather doping should be added to the banned list.”

“It’s a different sport,” Staffan Jonsson, the coach of Sweden’s Olympic and world champion thrower Daniel Stahl said.

Norway’s former Olympic 800m champion-turned pundit Vebjorn Rodal said: “It’s blowing like crazy here. There’s no doubt this arena is sought out for throwing far.”

Thor Gjesdal, of the Norwegian athletics federation, said the weekend results would be ratified and more wind-assisted throws can be expected, despite the criticism.

“It is more difficult to quantify the benefit of wind in the same way as in running,” he said. “It will be difficult to change the rules now.”

World Athletics did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Reuters news agency.