Kusale adds 3rd medal to India's tally, clinches bronze in men's 50m Rifle Final

On an empty stomach and with his heart racing Indian shooter Swapnil Kusale kept his composure to stage a remarkable comeback and help the country claim its first ever Olympic bronze in the 50m rifle 3 positions event of the ongoing Paris Olympics 2024 on ThursdayKusale shot an aggregate of 4514 in the eightshooter final to finish third after being placed sixth at one stage It took the countrys overall tally to three all bronze in shooting at the Paris GamesHis medal comes following the stunning performance of Manu Bhaker who clinched the womens 10m air pistol and mixed team 10m air pistol bronze alongside Sarabjot SinghI did not eating anything was feeling the butterflies in my stomach Just had black tea and came here The night before every match I just pray to god Kusale said after his unprecedented achievementToday the heartbeat was on the higher side I just tried to control my breathing and did not try anything different Everyone is more or less the same at this level he addedKusale whose father and brother are teachers in a district school and his mother the sarpanch of Kambalwadi village near Kolhapur in Maharashtra finished behind Chinas Yukun Liu 4636 and Ukraines Serhiy Kulish 4613The 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 OlympicsTo be honest I did not see the scoreboard It was my years of hardwork and that is what I kept in mind while shooting I was listening to the announcements of scores but was ignoring it I just wanted the Indian supporters to keep cheering for me he saidKusale 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 worlds biggest sporting spectacleActually I dont go for railway work The Indian railways has given me 365 days leave to perform well for India My personal coach Deepali Deshpande is like a mother to me She has supported me unconditionally I have not spoken to my mother yet Kusale saidHe was in the fourth place after the first standing series Considered a highscoring round Kusales first shot of the final in kneeling was a lowly 96 but he made an excellent recovery after thatAlso Read Then Dhoni now Swapnil Kusale the inspirational story of ticket collectorA 106 and 103 saw Kusale jump momentarily into the second place But a 91 and a 101 in his next attempts pushed him back to fourthHowever a 103 propelled him to the third place and he maintained that position to win a Paris Olympics 2024 medalHe was placed sixth at 1533 at the end of kneeling stage and by the time the prone stage concluded he was fifth with a total of 3101In 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 GamesThe 28yearold has been competing in international events since 2012 but he had to wait 12 years to make his Olympics debut at the Paris GamesMay be I was not as strong mentally All my coaches and support staff helped me a lot They gave me a lot of emotional support he said when asked why it took him so long to be at the biggest stageKusale who finished seventh in a tightlycontested qualification on Wednesday has been working for Central Railways since 2015 and has watched the biopic of World Cup winner Dhoni multiple timesI dont follow anyone specific in the shooting world Outside of that I admire Dhoni for the person that he is My sport requires me to be as calm and patient as he is on the fieldI also relate to his story as I am a ticket collector like he was Kusale had told PTI after finishing seventh in the qualification here on WednesdayWith agency inputs