Indus Valley Times

PARIS, AUG 1 : Shooter Swapnil Kusale secured India’s third medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics after finishing third in the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions final at the National Shooting Center in Châteauroux on Thursday. Kusale delivered an exceptional performance amidst intense competition, earning third place with a score of 451.4 points in the final. Swapnil has now become the first Indian shooter to win an Olympic medal in the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions event. This is also the first time that Indian shooting contingent have won three medals in a single edition of any Olympics.

Swapnil was initially placed sixth with a score of 153.3 after the kneeling stage in the final of the 50m rifle 3 position event. By the end of the prone stage, he improved to fifth place with a total score of 310.1, just 0.6 points behind third-placed Serhiy Kulish of Ukraine. In the first five standing shots, Kusale scored 51.1, moving up to fourth place, just 0.4 points away from third spot. The 50m rifle 3 Positions final includes three rounds of 15 shots each. After 15 shots in kneeling, prone, and standing positions respectively, the elimination round is conducted.

Swapnil had finished seventh in the qualifying round with a total score of 590, including 38 inner 10s (Xs), from three positions. The first medal came on Monday when Manu Bhaker claimed a bronze in the women’s 10m air pistol event, making her the first Indian shooter to win an Olympic medal. Bhaker made history again on Tuesday by winning another bronze with Sarabjot Singh in the 10m pistol mixed team event. She became the first post-independence Indian athlete to win two medals in a single Olympic edition.

China’s Y.K. Liu won the gold medal with a score of 463.6 points, while Ukraine’s S. Kulish claimed silver with 461.3 points. Kusale’s outstanding achievement not only made India proud but also highlighted his expertise in shooting sports, solidifying his status as a formidable competitor on the global stage. Notably, this was India’s third medal in shooting at the Paris Olympics 2024.

WHO IS SWAPNIL?

Swapnil Kusale, born in 1995 into a family with an agricultural background, works as a Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) with the Pune Railway Division. His father enrolled him in Maharashtra’s Krida Prabhodini, a primary sports program, where after a year of intensive physical training, Kusale chose shooting as his sport. In 2015, he won a gold medal in the 50m rifle prone 3 event in the junior category at the Asian Shooting Championships in Kuwait. He also triumphed at the 59th National Shooting Championship in Tughlakabad, surpassing Gagan Narang and Chain Singh in the 50m rifle prone event. Kusale repeated this success at the 61st National Championship in Thiruvananthapuram, winning a gold medal in the 50m rifle 3 position event.

-The India Today