James Bacueti is keen to turn Commonwealth Games bronze into Olympic Games gold, using coaching heartbreak and injury setbacks as motivation for his Paris dream.
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The Canberra gymnast had a chance to reflect on his breakthrough major medal on Wednesday when he joined a host of athletes for an Australian Sports Medal ceremony with Governor-General David Hurley.
But Bacueti is already looking ahead, plotting his path to the world championships later this year and then the Olympics in 2024.
A good performance at the world titles will give Bacueti another confidence boost, but the championships next year looms as the qualifying opportunity.
"The big goal is 2024 in Paris," Bacueti said.
"Mid next year it will all start to get pretty serious, but the main goal is Paris at the moment."
Bacueti who finished third in the vault at Birmingham this year reflected on the surreal experience and his recent achievements.
Incredibly, Bacueti managed to achieve this feat in his debut Commonwealth Games appearance, and came agonisingly close to picking up another bronze in the team competition.
''It's been a pretty massive month," Bacueti said.
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"It was something I have dreamt of ever since I was a kid, winning a Commonwealth Games medal.
"The Commonwealth Games has always been the really sentimental one, so just making the team was already pretty unreal."
However the journey for Bacueti hasn't been straightforward, and the numerous setbacks he encountered have proved invaluable for his development.
Bacueti failed to qualify for both the 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games after unsuccessful trials, but used the disappointment as motivation.
"For me it was one of my first ever senior competition trials, and it went very poorly," Bacueti said on his unsuccessful 2014 trial.
Bacueti then had a couple operations at the end of 2016 that hampered his progress and ultimately his chances of being selected for the team in 2018.
"There was a lot of up and downs going on in the gym and outside of the gym," Bacueti said.
"In 2015 one of my coaches who was a really big part of my life passed away, so I was dealing with that for a couple of years."
"Then [I] tried again for 2018 and just wasn't quite ready for quite a few reasons."
Bacueti decided making the Commonwealth Games was a priority, and chose to back off from his studies to focus on achieving this goal.
"I really want this, so for the next four years I'm going to make sure I'm doing everything I can to make sure I'm putting myself in a position where I'm on that team for Birmingham," Bacueti said.
"I spent a long time trying to get there [Commonwealth Games] so it was pretty special," Bacueti said.
On his return home, Bacueti attended the junior state championships to hand out medals and talk to the children keen to follow in his footsteps.
He was taken back by the support from families and kids who he had coached over the years.
"I've known the community for a long time and the response was just ridiculous," Bacueti said.
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