Swapnil Kusale won India its third bronze medal of the Paris Olympics 2024, finishing third in the men's 50m rifle 3 position final on Thursday. Swapnil joined fellow shooters Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh to complete a hat-trick of medals for India at the Games as its shooting juggernaut continued. This is the first time India have won three shooting medals from a single edition of the Olympic Games.

As India extend its medal tally to 3, Swapnil, 28, who a day before became India's first shooter to qualify for the men's 50m rifle 3 position final, created history by becoming the only Olympic medal winner in this category. However, what makes this win even sweeter is the fact that he did so at his maiden Olympic appearance. It was only less than three months ago that Swapnil booked his tickets to Paris, securing a spot after the final Olympic trials held at the MP State Shooting Academy Ranges in Bhopal.

Swapnil battled inner demons leading up to the final. The 28-year-old had agonisingly missed out on a medal at both the 2023 Shooting World Championships in Baku and the subsequent Asian Games in China, finishing a heartbreaking fourth on each occasion. In the Paris Olympics final, too, he found himself in a similar predicament, occupying the middle of the pack – sixth after the kneeling event and fifth after prone. But a determined push in the standing position saw Swapnil steadily climb the ranks, finally burying the ghosts of his past failures.

The eight finalists faced a gruelling series of shots, beginning with 40 initial shots across kneeling, prone, and standing positions, followed by five elimination shots in the standing position. Kusale had a challenging start, placing seventh after his first shot of 9.6 but recovering with subsequent shots of 10.4 and 10.3, concluding his first kneeling series with a score of 50.8. This tied him for sixth place, with Serbian Lazar Kovacevic trailing at 49.7. Kusale was a point behind the medal places as he proceeded to the second kneeling series, finishing it with a slightly improved score of 50.9, maintaining his sixth position with a total of 101.7.

At this stage, Kusale was still a point off the medals and two points behind the leader, Norway's Jon-Herman Hegg, who led with a total of 103.7. Kusale completed the kneeling position with his best series score of 51.6, bringing his total to 153.3, just 0.6 points behind Serhiy Kulish in third place and 0.7 behind second-placed Liu Yukun.

How the final panned out

Hegg maintained his lead with another solid series of 51.6. As the competition moved to the prone position, Kusale demonstrated remarkable consistency, shooting three 10.5s and two 10.6s in his first prone series, which propelled him to fifth place, though still trailing the medal positions by 0.7 points and the leader by 1.8 points.

Kusale continued to perform steadily in the prone position, scoring 52.2 in his second series and holding his fifth place. Despite his efforts, he remained a point behind the medal places, with the top shooters close in scores. His final prone series of 51.9 brought his total to 310.1, keeping him in fifth place as the competition entered the standing position, known for its higher score variance. Kusale's standing series began poorly with a 9.5, but he managed to recover with a strong series of 51.1, which was the second best in the standing shots, leaving him just 0.1 points behind third place and 0.4 behind second.

After 37 shots, Kusale climbed to second place with scores of 10.6 and 10.3, amassing a total of 382.1, just 0.2 points behind leader Liu Yukun. However, a critical 9.1 shot dropped him back to fourth. Kusale quickly regained momentum, shooting 10.1 and 10.3, moving to third place, 0.9 points behind Yukun and 1 point behind new leader Kulish. With Bartnik and Kovacevic eliminated, Kusale's next 10.5 shot kept him in third, 1.8 points ahead of fourth-placed Hegg. As Hegg was eliminated after a 9.9 shot, Kusale remained in contention, 1.1 points behind the leader Yukun and 1.4 behind Kulish.

In the final crucial shots, Kusalemanaged a total score of 451.4, finishing just 0.6 points behind Kulish, narrowly missing out on a higher medal position.

Read Also: Paris 2024: Swapnil Kusale bags bronze in 50m 3P rifle shooting