BY JESS ROUSE
Cessnock shooter and Federal MP for the Hunter Dan Repacholi is one step closer to his sixth Olympic Games.
Dan just returned home from a qualification event in Brazil where he shot in a Mixed Teams event with fellow Australian Sascha Kroopin and in the Men’s 10-metre Air Pistol event posting a six-round total of 564.
His score in the individual event took him to an overall 2826 points, finishing the Australian qualification in first place.
“It has certainly been a long process, we had four events in Australia and then the top three shooters in each event made it through to go to the fourth and fifth event in Rio.
“The number one shooter after those events goes onto Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan and to Munich at the end of April and I am lucky enough to be that shooter,” said Dan.
Dan’s first Olympic Games were in Athens in 2004, then Beijing in 2008, London, Rio and Tokyo. Dan has won several medals at Commonwealth Games representing Australia winning Gold in Melbourne, Glasgow and the Gold Coast, and Bronze in Melbourne, Delhi, and Glasgow.
Dan was elected the Hunter MP in May 2022.
“It has been busy there’s no doubt about that! I have a fantastic team around me, my wife and girls are great and the office team here is amazing. Without their support there’s no way anything I’m doing would be possible.
“Just because you become a politician doesn’t mean you change your whole life. You still need to be the person you were before going into politics because that’s what makes you who you are.
“If you’re not genuine to yourself, how can you be genuine to the people around you and the people you’re trying to represent to the best of your ability?”
Dan must finish in the Top 50 in Baku or Munich at the end of April to get nominated for the Australian Olympic Shooting team.
