New Delhi. India’s Swapnil Kusale has brought laurels to the country by performing brilliantly in the Paris Olympics and winning the bronze medal in the men’s 50m 3-position shooting event. Swapnil secured third place in this event with 451.4 points. China’s Liu Yukun won the gold medal with 463.6 points and Ukraine’s Kulis Serhiy won the silver medal. This medal of Swapnil is also special because he has become the first Indian shooter to win an Olympic medal in this event. Swapnil, who was ranked seventh in the qualification round, made a brilliant comeback in the standing position after finishing sixth in the kneeling and prone positions in the final and won the bronze medal.
Swapnil Kusale’s journey has been full of struggles. Born on 6 August 1995 in Pune, Swapnil’s family comes from an agricultural background. He started shooting in 2009 by enrolling in Maharashtra’s Krida Prabodhini. After a year of intensive training, he chose shooting as his career and received sponsorship from Lakshya Sports in 2013.
Kusale’s achievements include winning the gold medal at the 50th Asian Shooting Championship in Kuwait in 2015. Apart from this, he won the gold medal in the 59th National Shooting Championship, beating big names like Gagan Narang and Chain Singh. He also won the gold medal in the 50m rifle three position event at the 61st National Championship in Thiruvananthapuram.
Swapnil earned an Olympic quota for India by finishing fourth at the 2022 World Championships. He won a gold medal in the team event at the 2022 Asian Games and a gold medal in the mixed team event at the 2023 World Cup as well as two silver medals in the individual and team events.
