Swapnil Kusale gave India its third medal in the Paris Olympics with an extraordinary display of focus and determination in the men’s 50 metre three position shooting competition.
Three-position shooting means shooting from three positions — kneeling position, lying down (called prone position) and standing position.
Similarities with Dhoni
The story of Swapnil Kusale is similar in some ways to that of M S Dhoni. Like the famed cricketer, Swapnil too is a Traveling Ticket Examiner (TTE) in the railways. Like Dhoni, Swapnil too faced a tall task but kept his cool and achieved his objective.
The expert commentators remarked favourably about his totally calm and composed demeanour. Indeed, he seemed to have no tension as he fought it out against the world’s best shooters.
He was competing in a very tough field. Among his rivals were a world champion, a European champion and the world ranked number one shooter. In such a field, to end up with a medal showed the great merit of India’s Swapnil.
Gagan Narang’s praise
Hyderabad’s Gagan Narang, himself a former medal winner in the Olympics who is now the Chef-de-Mission of the Indian contingent, said: “This is the first time that we have got a medal in the three position event. Swapnil has broken through the glass ceiling. This was an event in which I myself took part and I had missed the medal bracket. So it is this medal that Swapnil has won that gives me the greatest pleasure. I congratulate him for putting up a fantastic show.”
The gold medal winner in this event was a first time Olympic competitor named Liu Yukun from China. The Chinese shooter was outstanding. He was the first among the qualifiers and the first at the finish. He led from start to finish and could never be challenged.
The silver went to Serhiy Kulish of Ukraine. The latter had earlier got a silver medal at the Rio Olympics in the 10 metre air rifle event and is a vastly experienced shooter.
Swapnil’s background
Swapnil belongs to a farmer’s family and hails from Kolhapur in Maharashtra. When he was about 14 years old he became interested in the sport of shooting. His father enrolled him in the state government’s Krida Prabodini sports programme where he took up shooting as his specialised sport.
It was in 2015 that he secured a job as a ticket collector in the Indian Railways and with the salary that he began to get, he was able to buy more expensive shooting equipment including a high quality air rifle.
His talent blossomed almost immediately. In 2015 he bagged a gold medal in the 50m rifle prone position in the junior category of the Asian shooting championship in Kuwait. In the same year, he also won the 59th National Shooting Championship held in Delhi ahead of the experienced Gagan Narang in the 50m rifle prone event.
In 2017, he repeated the same performance in 61st National Championship in Kerala by winning gold in 50m rifle three position event. More victories followed and in May 2024 he was named in India’s squad for the Paris Olympic Games after all the shooters were put on selection trials in Delhi and Bhopal.
Now he has pocketed a medal in the Olympic Games and made India proud. Leading the congratulatory wishes on social media, five-time Olympian and gold medalist Abhinav Bindra wrote: “Competing at the highest level and coming away with a medal is a testament to your dedication and talent. You’ve made India so proud and shown everyone what chasing dreams is all about.”
By winning a medal, Swapnil has not only fulfilled his own dream but also inspired youngsters to follow the path to glory.
