In the men's 50m Rifle Three Positions shooting event at the Paris Olympics 2024 on August 1, Thursday, the Indian shooter Swapnil Kusale clinched the bronze medal and wrote his name in bold letters in the history book of India at the Games. Let’s delve deeper into who is Swapnil Kusale and how he turned his Olympic dream into reality. (Match Highlights | Full Olympics Coverage)
Swapnil, a 28-year-old from Kolhapur district in Maharashtra, was once an Indian Railways ticket collector in Pune. In 2015, he took the job to save up for his first rifle, and that’s how his journey into shooting began. Today, he is an Olympic medalist, India's first ever shooter to win in the 50m rifle three-position at the Games.
With this, India secured its third medal of the Paris Olympics, all of them bronze and all in shooting. Manu Bhaker earned opened India's tally with bronze in the women's 10m pistol event, and yet again she, along with Sarabjot Singh, won another bronze in the mixed 10m pistol event.
“I have a lot of emotions right now," Kusale said after claiming the bronze. “This medal means a lot. It is not a gold, but I am pleased I got a medal. To get an Olympic medal is a dream".
This was India's third medal in rifle shooting. Previously, Abhinav Bindra’s clinched gold in men’s 10m air rifle at Beijing 2008 and Gagan Narang bagged bronze in the same event at London 2012.
Who Is Swapnil Kusale?
Swapnil Kusale, born in 1995 to a farming family, was steered by his father towards a different destiny. In 2009, he was enrolled in Maharashtra's Krida Prabhodini, a premier sports program.
A year later, Kusale had to chose one sport to began his career with and he chose shooting. By 2013 he was sponsored by Lakshya Sports. His breakthrough came in 2015, when just after the TT role, he clinched the gold medal at the Asian Shooting Championship in Kuwait, setting the stage for a legendary career that was meant to create history.
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Swapnil Kusale's Achievements
World Championship, Cairo (2022):
Finished fourth, securing the Olympics 2024 quota for India.
Asian Games 2022:
Gold in Team event.
World Cup, Baku (2023):
Gold medal in the mixed team event and two silver medals in individual & team events
World Championship, Cairo (2022):
Bronze medal in team event.
World Cup, New Delhi (2021):
Gold medal in team event.
Swapnil Kusale's Show In Paris - A Hard-Fought Win!
Swapnil Kusale’s performance today (August 1, Thursday) at the National Shooting Center in Chateauroux is a testament to the adage, 'where there’s a will, there’s a way.' It was not easy to climb on the podium starting from seventh. But he had his own way. After the first 15 shots, he was in sixth in kneeling positions, scoring 153.3 points—just two points behind the leader, Norwegian shooter Jon-Hermann.
Consistency in the prone and standing positions propelled him up the ranks, reaching third place by the end of Stage 1. And in the Stage 2, that was challenging as each shot had the potential of elimination, Kusale delivered impressive scores of 10.5, 9.4 and 9.9 in the next three shots. This solidified his position, ultimately surging up for the bronze medal with a total score of 451.4.
China’s Liu Yukun who holds the world record in the event, claimed the gold with 463.6. Silver goes to Ukraine’s Serhiy Kulish (461.3).
The 28-year-old had qualified for the final round by finishing seventh in the qualifiers with a total score of 590. India’s hopes were further tested when another 50m Rifle shooter, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, faltered despite scoring a perfect 100 in the prone position. Swapnil, who started slowly and spent much of the round in tenth place, managed to climb to seventh with a score of 590, securing his spot in the final match.
