She remains a newly minted gold medallist, but Tinka Easton already has her eyes set on the next big challenge.
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The Berry athlete last week became the first Australian judoka in 20 years to claim Commonwealth Games gold when she beat Canada's Kelly Deguchi in the women's 52kg final in Birmingham.
Illawarra talent Abigail Paduch also secured bronze in the women's over 78kg category.
It was a victory that Easton describes as "surreal". However, with medal clinched in her hand, the 26-year-old is now ready for more success.
"It still hasn't really sunk in yet. I'm super ecstatic, but at the same time, it doesn't feel real," Easton told the Mercury.
"Winning gold means a lot to me because it's the accumulation of years of hard work. I always want to do my best and be the best version of myself, which means putting in the hard work and never giving up.
"But I still have more to achieve. I have some training in Europe coming up in the next few months before the World Championships in October. I'm aiming for a top eight or better finish."
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Easton had to come-from-behind to claim the gold on August 2 (AEDT). She had appeared in trouble at times against Deguchi, who forced a "golden score" period to decide the winner.
Then, with the clock ticking down in golden score, Easton surprised Deguchi with a waza-ari throw to secure an unlikely victory.
"That's actually one of my favourite throws so I practise it a lot," Easton said.
"It's been an incredible, long journey to get here, with lots of ups and downs, and probably more losses than wins in the past few years. So it's exciting to finally come out on top."
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