Swapnil Kusale Paris Olympics 2024 Story: Shooter Swapnil Kusale’s story is like Dhoni, he is a ticket collector in Indian Railways, this happened for the first time

Swapnil Kusale  Paris Olympics 2024 Bronze Medal Story: Swapnil Kusale, who won the bronze medal in 50m Rifle 3 Positions Men’s Final Results of Paris Olympics, created history.

For the first time, an Indian shooter won a medal in this Olympic event i.e. 50 meter rifle three position event. With this, Kusale gave India its third medal. The special thing is that all three medals of India have come in shooting in this Olympics.

Well, the story of Kusale is like that of great cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Like Dhoni, Kusale is also a ticket collector (TC). Kusale takes inspiration from Dhoni who, like him, was a ticket collector in the Railways at the beginning of his career.

Kusale came to play in the final today (1st August) at 1.00 pm. Kusale was the first Indian to play in the final of this event, he won a medal for India in his very first Olympics.

29-year-old Kusale, who hails from Kambalwadi village in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, has been playing in international competitions since 2012, but had to wait 12 years for his Olympic debut. Kusale, who idolizes Dhoni, has watched the film ‘MS Dhoni: The Untold Story’ based on the life of the World Cup-winning cricket captain several times.

Exceptional performance by Swapnil Kusale! Congrats to him for winning the Bronze medal in the Men’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions at the #ParisOlympics2024.

His performance is special because he’s shown great resilience and skills. He is also the first Indian athlete to win a medal in… pic.twitter.com/9zvCQBr29y

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 1, 2024

Why Dhoni is favorite, Kusale told the reason
Kusale had said in an interview that he does not take guidance from any particular player in shooting. But Dhoni is my favorite in other sports. There is a need to remain calm in my game and he too was always calm on the field. He was also a TC once and so am I.

work in central railway
Kusale has been working in Central Railway since 2015. His father and brother are teachers in the district school and mother is the sarpanch of the village. He had said in an interview – So far the experience has been very good. I love shooting and I’m glad I’ve been able to do it for so long. I have gained confidence after seeing Manu Bhakar. If she can win then we can also win.

PM Modi congratulated Swapnil Kusale
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also dreamed Kusale was congratulated for his performance. PM Modi shared a post on X. PM wrote- Exceptional performance! Congratulations to him for winning the bronze medal in Men’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions at #ParisOlympics2024. His performance is special because he has shown excellent flexibility and skill. He is also the first Indian athlete to win a medal in this category. Every Indian is filled with happiness. Abhinav Bindra also congratulated Kusale.

Absolutely thrilled for Swapnil’s epic bronze medal win in shooting at the Paris Olympics! 🥉 Your hard work, grit, and passion have truly paid off. Competing at the highest level and coming away with a medal in shooting is a testament to your dedication and talent. You’ve made… pic.twitter.com/7jxchc5WCX

— Abhinav A. Bindra OLY (@Abhinav_Bindra) August 1, 2024

Three medals in shooting in one Olympics for the first time

If seen, for the first time an Indian shooter has won a medal in the 50 meter rifle three position event of the Olympics. This was India’s third medal in the current Olympic Games. Before this, India’s last two medals also came in shooting. That means, for the first time, India won three medals in shooting in an Olympic season. The gold medal of this event was won by Liu Yukun of China and the silver medal was won by Kulish Serhiy (Ukraine).

After the end of kneeling and prone series in the final match, 29 year old Swapnil Kusale was at fifth position with 310.1 points. But he made a brilliant comeback in the two series of standings. After the standing series, Swapnil came to third place and retained this position. In kneeling, the shooter shoots while sitting on his knees, whereas in prone, shooting is done while lying on the ground. Whereas in standing shooters shoot while standing.

Kneeling (1st series) – 9.6, 10.4, 10.3, 10.5, 10.0, Total: 50.8 points
Kneeling (2nd series) – 10.1, 9.9, 10.3, 10.5, 10.1, Total: 51.9 points
Kneeling (3rd series) – 9.7, 10.3, 10.8, 10.4, 10.0, Total: 51.6 points

Prone (1st series) – 10.5, 10.6, 10.5, 10.6, 10.5, Total: 52.7 points
Prone (2nd series) – 10.8, 10.2, 10.5, 10.4, 10.3, Total: 52.2 points
Prone (3rd Series) – 10.5, 10.4, 10.4, 10.2, 10.4, Total: 51.9 points

Standings (First Series) – 9.5, 10.7, 10.3, 10.6, 10.0, Total: 51.1
Standings (2nd series) – 10.6, 10.3, 9.1, 10.1, 10.3, Total: 50.4 points

Four shots of bocce: 10.5, 9.4, 9.9, 10.0

India’s medalist in shooting (Olympics)

1. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore

Silver Medal: Athens (2004)

2. Abhinav Bindra

Gold Medal, Beijing Olympics (2008)

3. Gagan Narang

Bronze Medal: London Olympics (2012)

4. Vijay Kumar

Silver Medal: London Olympics (2012)

5. Manu Bhaker
Bronze Medal: Paris Olympics (2024)

6.Manu Bhakar- Sarabjot Singh
Bronze Medal: Paris Olympics (2024)

7.Swapnil Kusale
Bronze Medal: Paris Olympics (2024)

Complete list of India’s Olympic medalists, know who became the winner and when.

*** Note: Norman Pritchard participated for India under the British flag, he was a player of British origin.