Paris Olympics 2024: After Nine years, bronze medalist Swapnil Kusale gets promoted from TTE to OSD
India has improved its medal tally in the ongoing Paris Olympics 2024 to three, with yet another bronze in the shooting event. Swapnil Kusale bagged India's third bronze on Thursday in the men's 50m rifle 3 positions event at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Dream debut at Olympics
The 28-year-old, who made his Olympics debut in Paris, qualified for the final round after finishing 7th with a total score of 590.
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Born in 1995, Kusale hails from a humble agricultural background in Kolhapur, Maharashtra and is a Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) with the Pune Railway Division.
Who is?Swapnil Kusale
His journey into the world of sports began in 2009 when his father enrolled him in the Maharashtra government's Krida Prabodhini, a primary sports program aimed at nurturing young talent. After a year of rigorous physical training, Kusale chose shooting as his sport of focus.
Notable achievements of?Swapnil Kusale
Prior to the Olympic bronze, Kusale¡¯s achievements included:
- World Championship, Cairo (2022): Finished 4th to win a Paris Olympics quota for the country.
- Asian Games (2022): Gold in the team event.
- World Cup, Baku (2023): Gold in the mixed team event; two silver medals in individual & team events.
- World Championship, Cairo (2022): Bronze in the team event.
- World Cup, New Delhi (2021): Gold in the team event.
First Indian to win?medal in the Men's 50m
Kusale, who also became the first Indian shooter to win an Olympic medal in the Men's 50m 3 Position event, shot a score of 451.4 to finish behind China's Yukun Liu (gold) and Ukraine's Serhiy Kulish (silver).
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'Focused solely on my breathing'
¡°I feel great. I was a little nervous and my heart is still racing. Ultimately, it's a sport, and I'm proud to have brought home a bronze for India," Kusale said after clinching a medal for the country.
"I didn't target anything and just focused solely on my breathing. I was not looking at the leaderboard and stuck to what I'd been practicing for many years. I was also ignoring the leaderboard announcements as I only wanted the Indian fans to make noise. It made me feel good, and I wanted to see them happy," he added.
Railways promotes?Kusale as an OSD
Following his bronze in Paris, Central Railway promoted Kusale as an OSD on Thursday. Kusale, who had joined as a Commercial cum Ticket Clerk in Central Railway's Pune Division in 2015, has now been recognized for his achievements.?
?"Success Through Accuracy. Congratulations to?Swapnil?Kusale, a Central Railway's employee, for winning the Bronze Medal in the Men's 50m Rifle 3 positions final at the Paris Olympics 2024! Your hard work and precision have truly paid off, keep aiming high! The entire nation and Central Railway are proud of you!," CR said on X
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