There’s not much time to rest for Celeste Mucci.
Whether she’s competing with the world’s best in the hectic atmosphere of heptathlon competition, or training for the upcoming under-20 world championships in Finland, Mucci is always on the go.
The Altona 18-year-old is in the best form of her short career, finishing fourth at the recent Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, posting several personal bests along the way to stamp herself as a star of the future.
“It was very exciting,” Mucci said.
“It was my first senior team, and to compete at a home games with all my family and friends up there was really exciting, I enjoyed the experience so much.
“On the junior teams it’s usually just me and my coach, so you could really feel the support out there in the stadium. It gave me a huge lift, and I was competing against girls who were fully matured and in their 20s so I definitely saw the difference between me now and where I want to be.
“It definitely challenged me and pushed me up. I want to mix with them more often now.”
Mucci finished the seven-sport event with 5915 points, with England’s Katarina Johnson-Thompson claiming gold on 6255 points.
A strong hurdler, with five junior national titles to her name, Mucci said she needed to work on her 800 metre and throwing events, but was overall happy with how she performed.
“I was coming in with good form, but then to put it all together on the two days was very pleasing,” she said. “I was a bit more nervous than usual with an Australian crowd, but they were good nerves in the end.
“I took a lot of confidence out of that, and now going back to juniors having done that I feel good.”
Mucci will travel to Finland for the junior world championships from July 10, and is hopeful of some more good performances as she starts the two-year journey towards a potential Olympics in 2020.
“It will be a different atmosphere again, but it’s back to juniors and I am a top age athlete so I’ll be expected to be at the top end this time,” Mucci said.
“There’s no pressure really it’s just about seeing where I’m at, but I’m hopeful of competing for a medal.
“After that it’s just qualifying for more senior teams, competing at indoor championships, world champs, and building my confidence so I’m ready to go when the Olympic trials roll around in a couple of years.
“It’s been a goal of mine for a while to make an Olympic team, so it’s a big couple of years ahead.”
