Penny has been working extra sessions with trampoline gymnastics national coach Brett Austin since an Olympic berth became a realistic possibility following his breakthrough performance in Spain at the World Cup event.

A new personal best 23rd world ranking at Valladolid in September has Penny poised to reach the elite semi-finals in the individual mini-tramp at next month’s world trampoline gymnastics championships.

‘‘The results from Spain was like a massive confidence boost for me,’’ Penny said.

‘‘To get inside the top 24 is the equivalent of reaching the semi-finals at the world championships and in line for Rio.’’

The top eight competitors at this year’s world championships in Denmark earn a spot at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

The next best 16 qualify for an Olympics test event in the Brazilian city next April competing for the final eight spots at the 2016 Games.

The trampolinist was Australia’s second reserve three years ago for London after battling a series of niggling ankle injuries, but feels he is now approaching the peak of his powers.

‘‘I’d say there’s a lot bigger difference between where I was at in 2012 and where I am at now,’’ he said.

‘‘We’ve done a lot of work on my top flight, working on the difficulty and working on the performance of the trampoline.

‘‘Sometimes when you look back and you’re not quite sure how much you’ve improved, but we’ve seen videos and definitely 100 per cent, I look a lot stronger on the trampoline than I did back then.’’

The 25-year-old believed he was also in the frame for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

‘‘The average age of competitors at London were 30 years old,’’ he said.

Penny, who holds a Tasmanian Institute of Sport scholarship, flew to Newcastle with Tasmanian coach Ben Kelly twice last month to analyse his technique with Austin, as he also boosted his training load to eight sessions and up to 20 hours a week, including gym work, from his base in Hobart.

The trio have focused on refining subtleties that score better with international judges, including holding his body line straighter, ensuring the arms aren’t tied to the body and increasing his height in the jump.

‘‘It’s been really nice to have Brett cast another eye over what we’ve been prepping,’’ Penny said.

‘‘Another coach will give you a different sort of feedback to what you’ve been doing, a different point of view to bring back and keep motivating me to push towards those goals.’’

The Newstead boy tells of a day when trampolining was just for fun as his concerned mum watched on through the back kitchen window.

‘‘We had one of those old rusty trampolines, with the padding around the edge and I used to be out there all the time,’’ Penny said.

‘‘My siblings and I were out the back trying to do something and we were always involved on the trampoline together.

‘‘It definitely sparked my interest for the sport.’’