Indian Shooter Swapnil Kusale clinched India’s third medal at Paris Olympics, winning a bronze in the Men’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions final.
Kusale, a railway ticket collector, is now an Olympic medallist. The 28-year-old, who idolises M S Dhoni because of a “relatable life story”, held his breath and controlled his pounding heart to avoid heartbreak and win a bronze medal in the 50m rifle 3-position — an event dubbed as the “Test match of shooting” because of the wide range of skills it tests.
For Kusale, the journey to the podium hadn’t been easy. His father, a school teacher from Kolhapur, had taken a bank loan to support Kusale’s sporting dream. The talented shooter with modest means would ration the bullets he used for training, since they cost Rs 120 each and it was “a huge sum” for the family. Now, these are small heart-warming details in the fairytale that Kusale would be asked to repeat by the media once he returns home.
Showing his mastery in shooting from kneeling, prone and standing positions, Kusale tallied a total of 451.4. He finished behind Chinese gold medallist Liu Yukun and Serhiy Kulish, the Ukrainian shooter whose medal hopes in Tokyo three years ago were dashed most bizarrely when he, by mistake, shot someone else’s target.
Last Sunday, Manu Bhaker became the first Indian woman shooter to win a medal at the Olympics. A couple of days later, the 22-year-old became the first Indian since Independence to win two medals at the same Olympics.
Kusale’s bronze will also go down as one for the history books — for the first time, India has won three medals in one sport at the same Olympics.
In more Olympic developments, India suffered a heartbreak in men’s doubles badminton as in-form pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty crashed out in the quarterfinals. In men’s singles, Lakshya Sen outclassed HS Prannoy in an all-Indian clash to reach the quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, Indian men’s hockey team suffered its first defeat of the group, going down against defending champions Belgium by one goals to two. Later in the day, PV Sindhu was knocked out of the event after losing her badminton singles pre-quarterfinal match.
