As the shooting juggernaut continues, Swapnil Kusale takes bronze to complete India's medal hat-trick at the Paris Olympics in 2024.
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.
Swapnil, Kusale 28, who made history the day before by becoming the first shooter from India to qualify for the men’s 50-meter rifle 3 position final, is the only Olympic medal winner in this event, helping India increase its medal total to three. But the fact that he won at his first Olympics really adds to the sweetness of this victory. Less than three months have passed since Swapnil purchased his Paris tickets, confirming his place in the competition following the last Olympic trials at the MP State Shooting Academy Ranges in Bhopal.
The eight finalists had to endure an exhausting round of shots that started with 40 shots in the standing, prone, and kneeling positions. There were then five shots in the standing position that were used for elimination. Kusale had a difficult beginning, finishing ninth after his opening 9.6 shot but bouncing back with 10.4 and 10.3 to finish his first kneeling series with a 50.8 total. His score of 49.7 put him in sixth place, tied with Serbian Lazar Kovacevic. Kusale continued to the second kneeling series with a little better score of 50.9, keeping his sixth place with a total of 101.7, just one point off the medal places.
For more such news. Contact us at info@adcliq360.com
How the outcome turned out
Kusale was currently two points behind the leader, Jon-Herman Hegg of Norway, who had a score of 103.7, and one point off the medals. With a final series score of 51.6 in the kneeling position, Kusale finished with a total of 153.3, barely 0.6 points behind third-place Serhiy Kulish and 0.7 behind second-place Liu Yukun. Hegg produced another strong series of 51.6 to hold onto his advantage. Kusale showed amazing consistency in the prone position as the tournament progressed, shooting three 10.5s and two 10.6s in his first series. This put him in fifth place, but he was still 1.8 points behind the winner and 0.7 points from the medal positions.
Kusale maintained his consistent performance in the prone position, finishing in fifth place with a score of 52.2 in his second set. He made an effort, but his score was still one point behind the medal positions, with the best shooters having similar scores. He maintained his fifth-place finish as the competition moved into the standing position, which is characterised by a larger score variance, with his final prone series of 51.9 bringing his total to 310.1. Kusale had a bad start to his standing series with a 9.5, but he recovered to post a fantastic 51.1, the second-best standing series, and was only 0.1 points behind third place and 0.4 behind second.
With scores of 10.6 and 10.3 after 37 shots, Kusale moved up to second position, accumulating a total of 382.1, just 0.2 points behind leader Liu Yukun. But a crucial 9.1 shot sent him reeling back to fourth. Kusale rapidly gained momentum again, hitting 10.1 and 10.3, and climbing to third position, one point behind the new leader Kulish and 0.9 behind Yukun. Following the elimination of Bartnik and Kovacevic, Kusale’s subsequent 10.5 put him in third place, 1.8 points clear of Hegg in fourth. Kusale was still in the running, 1.4 points behind Kulish and 1.1 behind leader Yukun, while Hegg was eliminated after a 9.9 shot.
Kusale managed to finish just 0.6 points behind Kulish with a total score of 441.4 in the last, critical shots, just losing out on a higher medal position.
For more such news. Subscribe to Apexadpros