Paris 2024 Olympics: Swapnil Kusale achieves sporting immortality with bronze medal in men’s 50m rifle 3 positions

oṃ tryámbakaṃ yajāmahe sugandhíṃ puṣṭi-vardhánam

urvārukam íva bandhánān mṛtyor mukṣīya mā ‘mṛtā́t

About a year ago, Swapnil Kusale had the Maha Mrityunjay mantra tattooed down his spine. It is a verse from the Rig Veda spoken in times of great stress and which bestows longevity. The original intention of the verse though was to ease the transition from the world of mortals.

Immortality is indeed what the 25-year-old has achieved. He will forever be legend in Indian sports history after winning an Olympic bronze in the men’s 50m rifle three positions event at Chateauroux on Thursday.

If Kusale has the moksha mantra written on his back, he also has the words ‘Bharat’ engraved in gold letters on the barrel of his gun. It’s with that gun that Kusale, the son of a school teacher from the village of Kambalwadi, near Kolhapur, won what is the third for India at the Olympics and also the first ever in the 50m three position event.

‘Bharat’ engraved in gold letters on the barrel of Swapnil Kusale’s gun used during the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions final at Paris 2024 Olympics.
| Photo Credit:
RITU RAJ KONWAR/THE HINDU

A year ago, when Kusale first had the verse tattooed on his body, he was seen as a promising shooter but without what it took to truly place himself in the world’s elite. He had finished fourth on two of the biggest occasions of his career – at the 2022 World Championships and then, in the Asian Games.

He looked to be going down a similar path in the finals range at Chateauroux as well. Starting with a 9.6 in his first shot of the kneeling position (shooters in the event take 15 shots in the kneeling position, then another 15 in the prone position, before transitioning to the standing position), the occasion seemed to be getting the better of Kusale – competing in his first Olympics. However, he pulled himself together and continued to stay in the contest.

READ | Paris Olympics 2024: Manu mania grips the world, from France to India

At the end of the first two stages though, Kusale didn’t look like he was getting into the medal bracket. He was in fifth place then – 0.9 points behind fourth place and a whole point away from the medals – in a sport where matters are decided in decimals. Kusale said he wasn’t trying to pay attention to the gap. “I was just focussing on my breathe. I wanted to make my teammates happy. I just focused on my body to calm myself,” he’d say after the match.

Although he was trailing at this point, the standing position – where shooters have the least stability in aiming at a target 50 meters away – is where matters are truly settled and that’s where Kusale really shone. Despite starting poorly with a 9.5 in his opening shot, he shot another four in the ten ring to keep his position. In his second series of five shots, another 9.1 was evened out by another four in the ten ring.

If Kusale managed to keep his nerves, those around him lost theirs. Jiri Privratsky of Czechia, who was in fourth place, and Jon-Hermann Hegg of Norway, who was in the lead at the start of the standing series, both shot five shots in the ‘9’ ring to vault Kusale into bronze medal place. The Indian would never leave it. He opened up a 2.2 point gap that Privratsky wasn’t able to bridge.

The Indian even had a chance to finish in second place but ultimately conceded that to Ukraine’s Serhiy Kulish. Silver may have been missed but bronze isn’t too bad as the big smile on the Indian’s face as he stood on the podium would suggest. The grin got even wider as he posed for pictures later. Kusale might have had a mantra on his skin and the word ‘Bharat’ on his gun but now, with the Indian flag on his back, he looked every bit the icon of Indian sports history.