Ever since the shooting competition began at the Paris Olympics, India has found a hero every single day, one who has risen in a way that the disappointments have been soothed.
On Thursday, it was the unassuming Swapnil Kusale. The 28-year-old rose many notches in stature at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre by bagging the country’s third medal at the Games, a bronze again, in Men’s 50m Rifle Three Positions.
Stepping into the senior ranks after a prolific run as a junior on the global stage, Swapnil was searching for his first international medal in the individual category. That box got ticked with the bronze, but more importantly, he gave the nation’s its first Olympic medal in the event.
No Indian has ever reached the final of this event at the Olympics. It is considered one of the toughest in shooting sport, requiring contestants to shoot from three different positions: kneeling, prone, and standing. This rigorous challenge makes the achievement even more remarkable
The odds were against Swapnil, an ardent MS Dhoni fan on account of their work profiles as railway ticket collectors, as he was up against names like China’s world record holder Liu Yukun, Ukraine’s Serhiy Kulish, Norway’s Hermann-Jon Hegg and Czech Republic’s Jiri Privratsky, all champions over a period of time.
Aware of the uphill task, Swapnil took his time to settle into a rhythm, but once he got his bearings right, there was no stopping him. From sixth, Swapnil clawed his way to fourth before finally slipping into the medal bracket by moving to third.
He stayed put at that spot, and finished with a 451.4 (590). The bronze signalled India surpassing its best haul of silver and bronze in shooting at the 2012 London Olympics.
Liu took gold with a 463.6 (594), ahead of Kulish’s 461.3 (592).
Given his simple upbringing in rural Maharashtra, the enormity of an Olympic final, and the subsequent medal had an overpowering effect on Swapnil.
“It’s still sinking in,” a visibly moved Swapnil told reporters.
“The final was tense, but I focused on my breathing and stuck to my routine. It’s a dream come true to win a medal for India.”
Dwelling on his idol’s effect, he said, “I admire Dhoni for the person he is. My sport requires me to be as calm and patient as he is on the field.”
Swapnil may have had to wait for success on the big stage, but like he showed in the final, patience pays off with the last few years yielding rich experience and medals.
The Olympic quota spot, courtesy the 4th finish at the 2022 World Championships in Cairo, team bronze in the same edition, and team gold at the Hangzhou Asian Games with a world record deserve special mention.
As has been the case till now in Paris, there was disappointment in store as Anjum Moudgil and Sift Kaur Samra performed below expectation in Women’s 50m Rifle Three Positions.
The experienced Anjum, turning out in her second Olympics after Tokyo, shot a 584 to finish 18th. But Sift, a potential medal hope in Paris and gold medallist from the Hangzhou Asian Games with a world record, was the bigger disappointment as she finished second-last with a 575 in a field of 32.
Sagen Maddelana of the US and Zhang Qiongyue shot a qualification Olympic record of 593, but the Chinese was placed second on account of fewer inner 10s.