Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday congratulated Swapnil Kusale for winning the Bronze medal in the Men's 50m Rifle 3 Positions at the Paris Olympics 2024. Kusale shot an aggregate of 451.4 in the eight-shooter final to finish third after being placed sixth at one stage. It took the country's overall tally to three, all bronze in shooting, at the Paris Games.
"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 this category. Every Indian is filled with happiness," PM Modi tweeted.
Kusale, whose father and brother are teachers in a district school and his mother the sarpanch of Kambalwadi village near Kolhapur in Maharashtra, finished behind China's Yukun Liu (463.6) and Ukraine's Serhiy Kulish (461.3). The last time a 50m rifle shooter made it to the Olympic finals was in 2012 London when Joydeep Karmakar finished fourth in 50m rifle prone event, which has been discontinued at the Olympics. Kusale, who was a Railways Ticket Collector and draws inspiration from cricket icon MS Dhoni, was slow to start with but fought his way back to bag the third prize in his very first appearance in the world's biggest sporting spectacle.
In the final stages of the competition, Kusale upped his game and joined Bhaker and Sarabjot in the list of medal winners in this edition of the Games.
