Swapnil Kusale (born 6 August 1995)[3] is an Indian sport shooter. He won the bronze medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in the men's 50 metre rifle three positions event.[4]
 Kusale in August 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nationality | Indian | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 6 August 1995[1] Kambalwadi, Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India[2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years active | 2012–present | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country |  India | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Shooting | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event | 50 meter rifle three positions | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coached by | Deepali Deshpande | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Olympic finals |  x1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World finals |  x2  x2  x1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Regional finals |  x2  x1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Early life
editKusale was born on 6 August 1995, in Kambalwadi village in Kolhapur district.[2] In 2009, his father enrolled him into Maharashtra government's Krida Prabhodini sports programme. After one year of intense physical training, Kusale had to choose one sport and ended up choosing shooting.[5] In 2015, he became a ticket collector for the Indian Railways in Pune, which helped him buy his first rifle.[6]
Shooting career
editIn 2015, he won gold in 50m rifle prone 3 in the junior category in 2015 Asian Shooting Championships in Kuwait.[7] In the same year, he also won the 59th National Shooting Championship held in Tughlakabad ahead of Gagan Narang and Chain Singh in 50m rifle prone event.[8] In 2017, he repeated the same performance in 61st National Championship in Thiruvananthapuram by winning a gold in 50m rifle 3 position.[9]
In October 2022, he earned an Olympic quota berth for India in the men's 50-metre rifle 3 position event with a fourth place finish at the 2022 ISSF World Shooting Championships in Cairo.[10] In May 2024, he was selected in the Indian Olympic team in the 50m rifle 3 positions event after the trials in Delhi and Bhopal.[11] Despite finishing 5th in the final trial, Kusale was selected in the team as the second shooter based on his scores in the first three trials.[11][12]
At the 2024 Olympics, Kusale became the first Indian to qualify for the final of the men's 50 metre rifle three positions event,[13] and won the bronze medal with a score of 451.4 in the final.[4]
Career outside shooting
editHe joined joined Central Railway in 2015 as a Travelling Ticket Examiner. He was requesting for a promotion for years. Post his Bronze-medal winning achievement, he was given a double promotion and has been promoted to the post of Officer on Special Duty, Sports Cell in Mumbai.
Awards and nominations
edit| Year | Award | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Indian Sports Honours | Sportsman of the Year | Nominated |
References
edit- ^ "Swapnil KUSALE". ISSF. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
- ^ a b Mangale, Kalyani (19 July 2024). "Kusale primed for Olympic debut". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
- ^ Iyer, Rahul (1 September 2024). "Swapnil Kusale: India's First Olympic Medalist in 50m Rifle Shooting". Leader Biography. Retrieved 5 September 2024.
- ^ a b "Swapnil Kusale earns third bronze medal for India in shooting". The Hindu. 1 August 2024. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
- ^ "From rural obscurity to National champion: Meet Swapnil Kusale, India's 20-year old shooting prodigy". sportskeeda.com. 11 January 2016.
- ^ "Ticket collector from Pune, Swapnil Kusale wins India's third shooting bronze at Paris Olympics". The Indian Express. 1 August 2024. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
- ^ Srinivasan, Kamesh (10 November 2015). "Kusale wins junior Asian shooting championship". The Hindu – via thehindu.com.
- ^ Srinivasan, Kamesh (6 December 2015). "Swapnil Kusale shoots to gold in 50-metre rifle event". Sportstar.
- ^ "Swapnil regains lost crown at National Shooting Championship". The Times of India. 25 December 2017. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
- ^ Sportstar, Team (24 October 2022). "Paris 2024: Full list of Olympics quota winners from India in shooting". Sportstar. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
- ^ a b Scroll Staff (17 May 2024). "Shooting, Olympic Trials: Anjum Moudgil, Sift Samra, Aishwary Tomar, Swapnil Kusale book Paris berth". Scroll.in. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
- ^ Srinivasan, Kamesh (17 May 2024). "Olympic Selection Trials: Aishwary Pratap tops men's rifle three-position, Manu Bhaker beats Esha Singh in air pistol event". Sportstar. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
- ^ "Swapnil Kusale makes 3-position final, hopes to undo debacle of last year's Asian Games". ESPN. 31 July 2024. Retrieved 1 August 2024.