Shooting, Olympics 2024: Swapnil Kusale wins bronze in men’s 50m rifle 3 positions

Swapnil Kusale clinched India’s third medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, bagging the bronze in men’s 50m rifle 3 positions event at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre on Thursday.

Kusale, 28, shot a total of 451.4 in the final to finish third behind China’s Liu Yukun and Ukraine’s Serhiy Kulish. He shot a total of 153.3 in the kneeling position, 156.8 in prone, and 101.5 in ten standing shots before the one-shot elimination round began.

Kusale started off slowly in the final and was placed joint sixth after the first series of five shots in the kneeling position. He remained sixth at the end of three kneeling series, but had reduced the gap with the opponent in fifth place to just 0.2 points.

He started off with an impressive 52.7 in the first prone series, thereby climbing to fifth. By the end of the 15 shots in the prone position he was up to fourth.

Kusale then soared to third position by the end of the standing series with impressive scores of 51.1 and 50.4 in the two series.

Even as the single shot elimination round began, the Indian remained unfazed as he went on to secure the bronze medal.

Kusale, a ticket collector with the railways, thus became the first Indian ever to medal in the...

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