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Follow UsSwapnil Kusale made history at the Paris Olympics by winning a bronze medal in the men's 50m rifle 3P event on Thursday. This victory fulfilled the dreams of 1.4 billion Indians and made Kusale the first Indian shooter to medal in this category.
Born on August 6,1995, in Kambalwadi village, Kolhapur, Kusale began his sports journey in 2009 when his father enrolled him in Maharashtra's Krida Prabhodini program. After a year of training, he chose shooting as his sport. In 2015, he started working as a ticket collector for the Indian Railways in Pune, using his earnings to buy his first rifle. Later, he worked as a Junior TE for Central Railway in Pune. Following his success at the Paris Olympics, Central Railway has promoted him to Officer on Special Duty in the Sports Department at CSMT, Mumbai.
In 2015, he won gold in the 50m rifle event at the Asian Shooting Championships which was held in Kuwait, competing in the junior category. In the same year, he also claimed victory at the 59th National Shooting Championship in Tughlakabad, beating notable shooters like Gagan Narang and Chain Singh in the 50m rifle prone event. In 2017, he succeeded by winning gold in the 50m rifle 3-position event at the 61st National Championship in Thiruvananthapuram.
In October 2022, he secured a position in an Olympic quota for India in the men's 50m rifle 3-position event with a fourth-place finish at the ISSF World Shooting Championships in Cairo. In May 2024, he was chosen for the Indian Olympic team in the same event after trials in Delhi and Bhopal. Although he finished 5th in the final trial, Kusale was selected as the second shooter due to his strong performances in the earlier trials.
Swapnil also mentioned that he admires Dhoni as they both have the same story. Sharing about the incident he said that, " I don't follow anyone specific in the shooting world. Outside of that, I admire Dhoni for the person that he is. My sport requires me to be as calm and patient as he is on the field. I also relate to his story as I am a ticket collector like he was," said Kusale."
At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Swapnil Kusale made history by becoming the first Indian to reach the final of the men's 50m rifle 3-position event and went on to win the bronze medal with a final score of 451.4.