Swapnil Kusale Secures Bronze, Completes India's Medal Hat-Trick At Paris Olympics 2024

Swapnil Kusale clinched India's third bronze medal at the Paris Olympics 2024, finishing third in the men's 50m rifle 3 positions final on Thursday. His achievement, alongside fellow shooters Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh, completed a historic hat-trick of shooting medals for India in this edition of the Games-marking the first time India has won three shooting medals in a single Olympic event.

At 28 years old, Kusale made history by becoming the only Olympic medalist in the men's 50m rifle 3 positions category, and he did so in his debut Olympic appearance. Just three months ago, Kusale secured his place in Paris after qualifying through the final Olympic trials at the MP State Shooting Academy in Bhopal.

Kusale overcame significant challenges leading up to the final. Having narrowly missed out on medals at the 2023 Shooting World Championships in Baku and the Asian Games in China-finishing fourth in both-Kusale faced a similar struggle in Paris. Initially positioned in the middle of the pack-sixth after the kneeling stage and fifth after the prone stage-he surged forward in the standing position, ultimately securing the bronze and overcoming his past disappointments.

The final comprised 40 initial shots across kneeling, prone, and standing positions, followed by five elimination shots in the standing position. Kusale's journey began with a tough start, placing seventh after his first shot but recovering with strong subsequent scores. He concluded his first kneeling series with a score of 50.8, tying for sixth place. An improved second kneeling series brought his total to 101.7, keeping him in sixth place.

Despite being just a point away from the medals and trailing by two points behind the leader, Norway's Jon-Herman Hegg, Kusale's performance in the standing position saw him climb the ranks. His final kneeling series score of 51.6 brought his total to 153.3, positioning him just 0.6 points behind third place and 0.7 points behind second place.