India’s Swapnil Kusale competes in the 50m rifle 3 positions men’s event at the Paris Olympics 2024 in Chateauroux, France. (AP Photo)
Swapnil Kusale won India its third medal at the Paris Olympics after claiming a bronze medal in the 50m rifle 3 position event on Thursday. He shot a score of 451.4, to finish behind China’s Yukun Liu (gold) and Ukraine’s Serhiy Kulish.
By winning bronze medal at the Paris Olympics, Swapnil Kusale broke a pattern of results: he was fourth at the World Championships, fourth at the Asian Games. But he’s ends third at Paris 2024 Olympics.
In the 50m rifle 3 position event final, Swapnil Kusale was placed sixth at 153.3 at the end of kneeling stage. But by the end of the prone stage, he was fifth with a total of 310.1. At this point, 0.6 is the difference between third placed Serhiy Kulish of Ukraine and Kusale.
But in the first five standing shots, Kusale shot 51.1 to rise up to fourth spot, putting himself 0.4 away from the third spot.
Who is Swapnil Kusale
Swapnil Kusale is a Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) with the Pune Railway Division. Born in 1995, in a family with an agricultural background, Swapnil Kusale’s father enrolled him into Maharashtra government’s primary programme dedicated to sports called Krida Prabhodini. After a year of hardcore physical training, he had to choose one sport and he chose shooting.
In 2015, Swapnil Kusale won a gold medal in 50m rifle prone 3 in the junior category in 2015 Asian Shooting Championships in Kuwait.
He also won the 59th National Shooting Championship held in Tughlakabad ahead of Gagan Narang and Chain Singh in the 50m rifle prone event. He repeated the same performance in 61st National Championship in Thiruvananthapuram by winning a gold in 50m rifle 3 position.
Swapnil Kusale’s CV as a shooter
Asian Championship, Korea (2023): Silver medal in the 10m air rifle individual event along with Olympics 2024 quota place for the Country
World Championship, Cairo (2022): Gold medal in 10m Air Rifle team event
ISSF World Cup, Changwon (2022): 2 Gold medals in the individual and men team events.
World University Games, Chengdu (2021): Gold medal in 10m Air Rifle individual event.
