Swapnil Kusale, who clinched a gold at the Asian Games, will eye to continue his promising show at the Paris Olympics. He will be India’s only representative in the men’s rifle 3 positions event in the French capital. The son of a school teacher, Kusale was passionate about sports in his childhood which led his father to enrol him in the Krida Prabhodini Scheme under the Maharastra government. He stayed in Nasik for six years before shifting to Pune where he started to train under Deepali Deshpande. Kusale went on to compete in some national-level tournaments before receiving the call-up to the Indian shooting team.
In 2015, Swapnil Kusale was recruited by the Indian Railways and was posted in Pune Division as a ticket examiner. The job was necessary for the 28-year-old shooter hailing from a modest family.
There was a time when his father had to take a loan to bear the expenses of the bullets. “The cost of each bullet was around 120 rupees at that time, so I had to be very careful while shooting because I couldn’t afford that much,” Kusale said, as per Olympics.com.
Swapnil Kusale tasted his first success at the 2023 Asian Games where he finished atop the podium along with Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar and Akhil Sheoran. The trio also set a new world record in the men’s rifle 3 positions team event, registering a score of 1769.
Age – 28
Sports/Discipline – Shooting
World Ranking – 62 (Men’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions)
First Olympic Games – Paris 2024
Major Achievements
- Asian Games 2023: Gold (Men’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions Team)
- World Cup 2022, Baku: 1 Gold, 2 Silver
Paris Olympics Qualification
Swapnil Kusale earned a Paris Olympics quota for India in 2022 after finishing fourth in the 50m rifle 3 positions at the World Championship in Cairo. His spot was confirmed in the Indian shooting contingent in the Olympics selection trials final in Madhya Pradesh earlier in May, according to Sportskeeda.
Recent Performances
Swapnil Kusale dominated the national selection trials for the Paris Olympics. Sharing the stage with Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Kusale topped the trial in New Delhi, recording 199 points in kneeling, 199 in prone and 194 in standing. He could not replicate the dominance in the final trial in Bhopal. In T3, he scored 194 in Standing, 195 in Kneeling and 198 in Prone, while in T4, his aggregate was 573, as per Revsportz.
Event Date and Time
Men’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions Qualification – July 31 – 12:30 PM
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