Celeste Mucci thought her chances of making the Australian Olympic athletics team were over when she ruptured her hamstring earlier in the year.
The injury required surgery and it was expected to take three months to heal. Mucci had just four months to lock in a qualifying time.
Last week, Mucci was confirmed as an Olympian for the first time, named in the 100 metre women’s hurdles.
“It’s so exciting,” she said. “It was amazing.
“I got injured in February in my second race back. My chances were then very slim.
“Everything in my rehab went as well as possible. The last five weeks I’ve managed to stay racing.”
Mucci qualified as the 36th best athlete on times in the qualifying period. Only the top 40 are selected for the Games.
The Seaholme resident said she didn’t care if she was ranked 40th, as long as she made the team.
Mucci, who has been part of Williamstown Athletics since she was 12, said she did everything she could to make sure that she did enough to make the team.
“I’d never had a hamstring injury,” she said. “I didn’t realise it was that bad.
“They gave me three months to recover and the qualifying period ends in four months.
“I have a good team around me at the VIS [Victorian Institute of Sport] and everything went well.
“In May and June I raced as much as I could. It’s more than I have in my life.
“I raced each week and all around the world.”
For Mucci, it’s her first Olympic Games after just missing out in Tokyo.
She had surgery in 2020 in both her knees and didn’t have enough time to get back to her best fitness.
“I was starting to think not again, and was hoping not to have a repeat of last time,” she said. “I managed it really well.”
Olympic selection has solidified Mucci’s decision to switch from the heptathlon, where she finished fourth at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.
“I made the call before Tokyo,” she said. “I still stick by it.
“I have a lot more to give in the hurdles. Everything has progressed well and I’m enjoying it a lot more.
“I outgrew the heptathlon.”
Mucci has another six week block of training before her events at the Games. She will head to France with the Australian team for a camp leading into the Games.
She said she’s hoping to be at her best in Paris.
“I’ve got no real expectations,” she said. “I want to run a personal best and focus on myself.
“I want to get into the semi finals, that is a goal of mine for sure. Anything can happen in hurdles.”
Mucci has previously been an emergency for the 4 x 100 metre relay team as well.
She said she hasn’t run many 100 metres since her injury, but it might be something that comes down the track.
Mucci’s parents will join her at the Olympics, having skipped last year’s World Championships in the hope she qualified for the Olympics.
She’ll have a number of fans back home watching her.
“I’m always down at Williamstown Athletics and Williamstown Little Athletics,” she said.
“I hold training camps over the summer and they always ask about the Olympics, it’s good to see them interested.”
