Ticket collector Swapnil boards the right train to collect an Olympic medal

Shooting is a sport of finer margins and nobody would know it better than Swapnil Kusale who has twice been on the wrong side of finer margins after finishing fourth at the 2022 World Championship and the 2022 Asian Games.

But on Thursday, Kuasle hit all the right notes at the Olympic games in Paris.

At the age of 28, the shooter became the first-ever Indian shooter to win an Olympic medal in the 50m rifle three positions event.

"My heart is racing", Kuasle quipped after winning bronze.

From Kolhapur to Paris- A long journey for Swapnil

Originally from Kambalwadi village near Kolhapur in Maharashtra, a hamlet famous for organic farming and a no-drug-use policy, Kusale has been an athlete since childhood due to the culture of his village.

"He would run in the morning every day and is fit from a very young age. I think he is a natural athlete," his father Suresh Kusale would tell The Bridge on a phone call from his village.

"When he was selected for the Kreeda Prabodhini scheme by the Maharashtra government at the age of 14, that is when we sent him to the boarding school," recalled Suresh.

Rising the ranks slowly and steadily, it was at the fag end of his career when Kusale picked interest in 50m 3P. He started participating in International tournaments from 2014 onwards.

Swapnil caught everyone's eye when he defeated experienced shooter Chain Singh and 2012 London Olympics medalist Gagan Narang at the 2015 National Championships.

Later the same year, Swapnil joined the Indian Railways as a ticket collector.

Consistent in the Indian team but inconsistent results

Swapnil gradually began climbing the ranks in the Indian team. With positive outcomes came greater international exposure.

It was at the 2022 World Championships that everyone noticed Kusale when he finished fourth despite leading the field. His tryst, however, with the final pressure moment continued when he shot 7.6 in the third-last shot at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China to finish fourth again.

"I still have no idea what happened in that shot and how it went so far away," Kusale told The Bridge before leaving for the Olympics in May 2024.

The first quota winner for India, Kusale struggled with his ability to handle tough situations and had to adjust to the new format of 50m 3P as well.

With the 50m 3P event now seeing shooters shoot 20 shots each in kneeling, prone, and standing series, as compared to 40 shots each in the three positions earlier, Kusale had to adjust to the new format.

His coach Deepali Deshpande believes that he is a rhythmic shooter and his debacle at Hangzhou was purely due to he losing his rhythm.

"Swapnil is a rhythmic shooter and if the rhythm breaks, things can go haywire. Under the new format, the time for recovery is less as it’s just two series per position. So, the key to coming back in rhythm is to have a good start," Deepali told The Bridge over a phone call after her ward created history at Paris. 

Swapnil fulfills the promise finally

In 2018, when Swapnil failed to make it to the Asian Games shooting squad, he inked a tattoo on his forearm that read 'I PROMISE', it was done to remind him of the mistakes he has made and the promise that needs to be fulfilled.

Later, he would get a tattoo of the mythical character Arjun who epitomizes marksmanship in Indian culture, and a mantra from the ancient text Rig Veda.

With self-belief and trust in others around him, the ticket collector from Kolhapur boarded the right train this time and fulfilled the promise of an Olympic medal.