Swapnil Kusale (born 6 August 1995) is an Indian

sport shooter Shooting sports is a group of competitive and recreational sporting activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy, precision and speed in shooting — the art of using ranged weapons, mainly small arms (firearms and airguns, in forms such ...

. He won the bronze medal at the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

in the men's 50 metre rifle three positions event.

Early life

Kusale was born on 6 August 1995, in Kambalwadi village in Kolhapur district. In 2009, his father enrolled him into

Maharashtra government The Government of Maharashtra is the executive branch of the Indian state of Maharashtra. The government is led by the chief minister (currently Devendra Fadnavis since 5 December 2024) who selects the council of ministers and is appointed by ...

's Krida Prabhodini sports programme. After one year of intense physical training, Kusale had to choose one sport and ended up choosing shooting. In 2015, he became a ticket collector for the

Indian Railways Indian Railways is a state-owned enterprise that is organised as a departmental undertaking of the Ministry of Railways (India), Ministry of Railways of the Government of India and operates India's national railway system. , it manages the fou ...

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

, which helped him buy his first rifle.

Shooting career

In 2015, he won gold in 50m rifle prone 3 in the junior category in

2015 Asian Shooting Championships The 2015 Asian Shooting Championships was held in Kuwait between November 1 and November 12. This tournament was supposed to be an Asian qualifying tournament for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. However, this qualification event lost its Rio Ol ...

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

. In the same year, he also won the 59th National Shooting Championship held in Tughlakabad ahead of

Gagan Narang Gagan Narang (born 6 May 1983) is an Indian sport shooter, supported by the Olympic Gold Quest. He won the bronze medal in the Men's 10 m Air Rifle Event at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London with a final score of 701.1 on 30 July 2012. He was ...

and

Chain Singh Subedar Major Chain Singh (born 5 April 1989) is an Indian sport shooter and a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) in the Indian Army, where he first learned and honed his skills in shooting in 2007. Specializing in rifle events, Singh has repre ...

in 50m rifle prone event. In 2017, he repeated the same performance in 61st National Championship in

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the Capital city, capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the ...

by winning a gold in 50m rifle 3 position. 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. 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. 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. At the

2024 Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

, Kusale became the first Indian to qualify for the final of the men's 50 metre rifle three positions event, and won the bronze medal with a score of 451.4 in the final.

Career outside shooting

He 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

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kusale, Swapnil 1995 births Living people Indian male sport shooters 21st-century Indian sportsmen Sport shooters from Maharashtra Shooters at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic shooters for India Shooters at the 2022 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for India Asian Games shooters for India Medalists at the 2022 Asian Games Olympic bronze medalists for India Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics People from Kolhapur district Recipients of the Arjuna Award Asian Games gold medalists in shooting