Dan Repacholi is eyeing off a fifth Olympic campaign at Tokyo 2020.
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The 35-year-old Nulkaba shooter may have had a change of retirement heart after being swept up in the euphoria of last week’s gold-medal performance at the Commonwealth Games.
Repacholi was going to call it a day after the Gold Coast competition but now, upon arrival back home in the Hunter with another major title, he’s not so sure.
“I’m not going to say it’s retirement yet,” Repacholi told the Newcastle Herald.
“I was going to, but now with that feeling of winning again, we’ll just wait and see.”
I was going to [retire], but now with that feeling of winning again, we’ll just wait and see.”
The next few weeks will provide the bearded man mountain with a bit of “thinking time”, weighing up family, sponsorship, work rosters and everything else that goes with another international campaign.
If he made another Australian team, Repacholi would join some elite company alongside five-time summer Olympians such as basketballer Andrew Gaze, archer Simon Fairweather, cyclist Stuart O’Grady, canoeist Clint Robinson and beach volleyballer Natalie Cook.
Fellow shooters Michael Diamond and Russell Mark both registered six Games appearances while equestrian Andrew Hoy stands alone with seven.
“I know I have a lot left,” Repacholi said. “I’m about to turn 36 and I’ve been away with guys into their 60s so age isn’t an issue. It’s whether or not I want to.”
Repacholi has been part of the national shooting team since 1997 – travelling to all continents bar Antarctica and meeting the likes of late Australian businessman Kerry Packer and Chinese basketballer Yao Ming along the way.
Throw in six Commonwealth Games medals, featuring three golds, and it’s been one hell of a ride so far.
“When I started off [as a kid] I never even dreamed of this,” Victorian-raised said.
The latest success was in the men’s 50m pistol, a moment the Cessnock Pistol Club member will never forget.
“This one was great because I got to do it in front of my wife [Alex], two little girls [Zoe, Asha] and all my family,” he said. “To have them there cheering was the bit that made this medal.”
Two days earlier Repacholi fell short of defending his 10m air pistol crown, finishing fourth.
