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BiographyA junior heptathlon star, post lockdowns and injury Celeste Mucci, 22, has found her feet in 2022 in her new focus events, the hurdles and sprints. In June she was named in the Commonwealth Games team in the hurdles and the 4x100m relay. Then in July selected in the 100m hurdles for her first senior global meet, the world championships. Her 2023 season has been at a new level. Both domestically and internationally she has clocked her six fastest times of her career, taking 0.12 seconds from her PB. She was second at Nationals and in August was named in her 7th National team and third consecutive world championships team – Budapest 2023. + + + + + As a 10-year-old Celeste Mucci followed her older brother into Little Athletics. She was also involved in soccer and swimming. “Soon after the age of 13, it became all about Athletics,” recalled Celeste. Within a couple of years, Celeste had started to compile some impressive marks in the 100m hurdles and high jump and was logically competing in the multi-events. Aged 15, in 2015 she scored 5430 (U18 implements) in a heptathlon. Her long jump and sprinting was also improving. “The first international Australian team I qualified for was in the heptathlon - the 2015 World Youth Championships, in Colombia. I ended up pulling out as I had a lower back stress fracture. At that point, I was pretty determined to never miss another team.” The next year (2016) she competed at the World Juniors pacing 17th. In 2017 she really started to improve domestically she had now scored 5628 and in April travelled to her former hometown, Florence in Italy, to compete at Multistars, a senior international competition, where she again increased her PB, this time to 5721 included three individual PBs. In December 2017 she broke the national junior record which had stood for 27 years, with a tally of 5870 points. In 2018 she won the Commonwealth Games trials and placed fourth at the Games with another PB/national junior record score of 5915. In July 2018 she competed at her second World Juniors/U20 Championships. The next couple of years were a challenge for Celeste as she moved away from the heptathlon and to the 100m hurdles and sprints. “The last couple of seasons have been a bit rough on the body and mind. The majority of the struggles were due to my knees having worn out cartilage in each knee cap which led to me having surgery in mid to late 2020. The arthroscopy cleaned out any rough cartilage left over in my knees. The rushed pre-season and coming-off injury turned into a troubled season and resulted in us missing out on the Olympics.” Missing Tokyo and the first team she was aiming for did have a positive side for Celeste. Celeste certainly benefited from this preparation with her best season yet in 2022. In June she was named in the Commonwealth Games team in the hurdles and on the 4x100m relay. Then in July selected in the 100m hurdles for her first senior global meet the world championships. But where does she sit with the heptathlon?
Idols: Katarina Johnson Thompson and Nadine Visser… Most influential person in career:. My coach because I have been with him since I was 13/14 and he has watched me grow up into the athlete I am today…Advice to your young self: Don't let fear overcome you and don't stress out so much about things you can't control…Hobbies: Melbourne markets, cooking…Goals: To run 12.50 in the hurdles and 11.15 in the 100m… Education: Studied Fashion Marketing at Australian University of the Arts…Occupation: Coaching and Reception Maribyrnong College…Interesting Facts: speaks Italian and is a very superstitious person… Sporting family: Father played in the A series for Volleyball in Italy. @ August 2023 david.tarbotton@athletics.org.au World Athletics Profile https://worldathletics.org/athletes/australia/celeste-mucci-14555113
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