It had been a tough slog for the Berry athlete, with her opponent Canadian Kelly Deguchi taking the upper hand on a number of ocassions, forcing their women's 52kg judo final to go to a "golden score" period.

Golden score is the equivalent of a sudden-death overtime, where any points to be gained are premium.

Deguchi looked to have potentially done enough to win, but Easton had other thoughts, surprising her opponent with a waza-ari throw to clinch the crucial point and claim the Commonwealth Games gold medal.

Read more: Kookaburras gain early momentum in Birmingham

That tenacity to fight back under difficult circumstances was evident early on when Easton first walked into the Bushido Judo Club at Shoalhaven Heads nearly 15 years ago.

Bushido founder and coach Bruce Fagan can remember the early days of how a then 10-year-old Easton trained.

While he admits that Easton wasn't the most naturally talented athlete, anything she lacked, she made up for with a strong work ethic.

"Her dad used to bring her to judo and she used to train pretty hard, and she had hard people to train with," Fagan told the Mercury.

"She didn't show a lot of talent straight away, but she worked really hard. You've just got to put the effort in, the same as anything, if you want to achieve."

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Tuesday's victory saw Easton became the first Australian judoka to secure a Commonwealth Games gold since Tom Hill in 2002.

Fagan was unable to watch the final, but smiled when he saw the result. He hopes that his club - which has currently closed its doors due to COVID - played a small role in Easton's victory.

"She wasn't going to go anywhere being around here locally. You've got to get out and travel the world, same as tennis, or swimming, or anything else," he said.

"I've had a lot of success with my athletes. One of my students won a gold medal and another won bronze at the Seoul Olympics in '88, and another student won four gold medals at the Police Olympics. All of my students have just worked hard and put the effort in."

For Easton, Tuesday's victory continues an impressive run of performances over the past eight years.

The Illawarra talent secured three straight Australian under-21s titles between 2014 and 2016, before claiming the equivalent senior titles the following three years. Other highlights over the journey include claiming bronze at the 2019 Sarajevo European Cup and appearing at four World Championships.

That path led her to Birmingham, and securing an inaugural Commonwealth Games gold. The 26-year-old told Channel Seven after the final that it was a "very exciting achievement".

"It's so good, it's something that I've been dreaming about so it's exciting to make it happen," Easton said.

"I was falling behind in the middle [of the match] and going into golden score, and I just thought that I had to refocus and get back into it, or I was going to let the match slide. So I switched that on and it ended well.

"I just reset and went back to my game plan. I got a bit frantic in the middle so I went back to focusing on the process and the gripping plan."

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