Paris 2024: Swapnil Kusale wins India’s unprecedented 3rd shooting medal
India’s unprecedented showing at the Paris Olympic Games continued as Swapnil Kusale won for the country its third medal—a bronze in the men’s 50m rifle 3 position event in shooting.
Incidentally, the previous two medals too were bronzes and they too came in shooting. This marks the first time India has won three shooting medals in a single edition of the Olympic Games.
Yesterday, Swapnil created another piece of history by becoming the first shooter from India to qualify for the men’s 50m rifle 3 position final, and remarkably, he accomplished this feat in his debut Olympic appearance.
The eight finalists in the event faced a demanding series of shots, starting with 40 initial shots across kneeling, prone and standing positions, followed by five elimination shots in the standing position.
After 37 shots, Kusale climbed to the second position, accumulating a total of 382.1, just 0.2 points behind the leader, and eventual gold medallist, Liu Yukun. However, a critical 9.1 shot dropped him to fourth place.
In the final crucial shots, Kusale achieved a total score of 451.4, finishing just 0.6 points behind Serhiy Kulish, narrowly missing out on a silver medal.
