Swapnil Kusale scripted history for 1.4 billion Indians on Thursday, August 1 when he became the first from his country to claim a medal in the men's 50m rifle 3 positions after aggregating a final score of 451.4 points.
However, Swapnil's success in the category didn't come easily as he had to endure a lot of pressure that came his way and employed special tactics to soak all the pressure in.
In an exclusive chat with India TV, Swapnil revealed that he couldn't sleep properly the night before his event and had to listen to songs to keep himself calm.
"I didn't keep a tab on the scoreboard and didn't even check my scores and ranking. I focused on my approach and accuracy. I tried to keep calm and went about my business without much fuss," Swapnil told India TV after winning his historic medal in Paris.
Swapnil thanked his family members for their constant support throughout his career and also revealed that he looks up to former India and Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni for his ability to keep his cool during the most intense situations.
"I have always seen MS Dhoni keep calm even when the situation becomes tense and therefore I take inspiration from a sportsperson like him and prepare myself for pressure situations," he added.
Veteran sports journalist Samip Rajguru caught up with Swapnil's coach Manoj Kumar for an interaction and Manoj denied taking complete credit for Swapnil's success.
"I had asked Swapnil not to think much about winning a medal as I knew it could put a lot of pressure on him. He was told specifically not to get flustered by the results around him as I knew that the standing round was going to be very crucial in determining the medal positions," Manoj said.
