Daniel Repacholi is the largest pistol shooter in the world - in more ways than one

DANIEL Repacholi, the 136kg bloke who drives a 570 tonne truck, is the biggest pistol shooter in the world and everything the two-metre giant does is larger than life.

Olympic shooter Daniel Repacholi at Rio Tinto's Mount Thorley Warkworth mine.

FOR the 136kg bloke driving the 570 tonne truck, everything is larger than life.

Daniel Repacholi, the miner in the rainbow coloured socks, is the biggest pistol shooter in the world – towering over competitors from his two-metre height.

But nothing is bigger than the $1 million Repacholi has sacrificed over the years to make it to a fourth and final Games in Rio.

Even during the gruelling 12-and-a-half hour shifts Repacholi pulls at Rio Tinto’s Mount Thorley Warkworth coal mine in the Hunter Valley, he has only had one thing on his mind.

No matter what the financial or personal cost – which has been profound – it’s all gone on the line for the dream of finally breaking through for an Olympic medal.

“I want to come away Olympic champion. That’s all my goal is,” says Repacholi, who is shooting for gold in the 10 metre and 50 metre events.

“I’m doing everything I can to achieve that. The only thing is there are 60 other people saying the same thing.

“I’d honestly hate to imagine what (I’ve spent). It’d be upwards of a million I reckon – just with the travel, the training, the competitions, equipment and time away from work.

“My wife is pretty much like a single mum at the moment – there’s a huge motivation to do it for my family.

Olympic shooter Daniel Repacholi at Rio Tinto's Mount Thorley Warkworth mine.

“To do something like this is a huge sacrifice.”

“Big is beautiful” as far as the father of two young girls Zoe and Asha is concerned.

This despite the fact he’s been known to go six months without washing the special coloured socks, given to him by his wife, that he always wears in competition.

Or all the times he’s heard that he’s too large to be a pistol shooter: gigantic frames apparently sway too much to shoot targets the size of a pinky fingernail from 10 metres, or as small as the head of a Red Bull can for the 50.

Repacholi will be making a beeline for the basketballers and rugby players in the Olympic village so he can mix with “the normal sized people” – but what really sets the haul truck driver apart from his competitors is the fact he is a thinking man.

So taxing is the toll of juggling half day shifts in the mines, the demands of training and the importance of family commitments with wife Alex and his two daughters, Repacholi has learnt he must make the most of every minute.

That’s why the man with a truck the size of a house has taken to training while behind the wheel.

“I do a lot of mental training while I’m at work in the truck,” he says.

Daniel Repacholi celebrates winning in Glasgow.

“I visualise me shooting a perfect shot, I visualise what the gun looks like and I visualise shooting an entire match.

“You never visualise a bad shot – you only visualise the good ones because that’s all you want to remember.”

The great thing for Australia is that it’s not just in Repacholi’s head. He’s putting performances on the board at the right time, now the reigning Commonwealth Games champion in the 10m and with recent strong World Cup form also under his belt.

To finally achieve the Olympic success that’s always eluded him, the sacrifices Repacholi has chosen to make have only increased – stopping work two months in advance and making sure no family or friends travel to Rio.

“I’ve never done a campaign like this one,” he said.

“I don’t want anyone to come to be honest. I’m there to do a job and we’ve all worked, me and my family, so hard to get to where I am.

“If I was to get there on the day and I couldn’t find them in the stands for example, I’m finished – mentally I wouldn’t be able to deal with it.

“I’m doing everything I can to put myself in the best position to come away with gold.

“I want to win.”

Originally published as Daniel Repacholi is the largest pistol shooter in the world - in more ways than one