Swapnil Kusale won India’s first Olympic medal in the men’s 50 metres rifle three positions, taking bronze at the Paris Games on 1 August 2024. The railway ticket collector from a village near Kolhapur had waited more than a decade for an Olympic chance, and when it came he became the first Indian to reach the final of the event. Only Liu Yukun of China and Serhiy Kulish of Ukraine finished ahead of him.
Name: Swapnil Kusale | Born: 6 August 1995, Kambalwadi, Kolhapur, Maharashtra | Sport: Shooting | Event: 50 m rifle three positions
A village in Kolhapur
Swapnil grew up in Kambalwadi in Kolhapur district, Maharashtra. In 2009 he joined the state’s Krida Prabodhini sports programme, which picks out talented children and trains them full time, and he moved to Nashik to concentrate on shooting. The rifle suited his patient temperament from the start.
His first international success came as a junior. He won gold in the 50 m rifle prone event at the Asian Championships in Kuwait in 2015, and that same year he joined Central Railway in Pune as a ticket collector. The job gave him a steady income while he chased places in the national team.
The hardest event in rifle shooting
The 50 m rifle three positions is widely seen as the most demanding rifle event. Shooters fire in the kneeling, prone and standing positions, switching body position and equipment between stages, and a final is long and draining. It rewards stamina and calm as much as accuracy. For years Swapnil was a consistent performer on the domestic circuit without breaking into the top tier internationally.
Breakthrough in 2022
That changed in 2022. At the ISSF World Cup in Baku he reached the gold medal match and lost 10-16 to Kulish, taking silver, his first individual World Cup medal. Later in the year, at the World Championships in Cairo, he finished fourth in the individual event. It was just outside the medals, but it won India a quota place for the Paris Olympics.
At the Asian Games in Hangzhou on 29 September 2023 he combined with Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar and Akhil Sheoran to win the men’s team gold in the three positions event. Their total of 1769 broke the world record of 1761 held by the United States.
Bronze in Paris
Swapnil qualified for the Paris final in seventh place with 590, becoming the first Indian to reach the Olympic final of the event. In the final he was outside the medal places after the kneeling and prone stages. The standing position, often where these finals are decided, went his way. He climbed steadily as others faltered and finished with 451.4 for bronze, behind Liu Yukun on 463.6 and Kulish on 461.3.
It was India’s third shooting medal of the Games, after Manu Bhaker’s two bronzes. Comparisons with MS Dhoni, who also began his working life as a railway ticket collector, followed quickly, and Swapnil said he had long looked up to the cricketer. His coach, Deepali Deshpande, a former Olympian herself, had worked with him for years.
Recognition
Indian Railways gave him a double promotion after Paris, making him an Officer on Special Duty in its sports cell in Mumbai. In January 2025 he was named for the Arjuna Award as part of the National Sports Awards for 2024.
After the Olympics
The seasons since Paris have been quieter. Swapnil finished 21st at the 2025 World Cup in Ningbo and 38th in Munich the same year, and he placed 39th at the Cairo World Cup in 2026. He was not part of the Indian three positions team that won silver at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya. He remains the only Indian to have won an Olympic medal in the event.
Career record and honours
- Olympic Games: bronze, men’s 50 m rifle three positions, Paris 2024 (451.4); first Indian finalist and medallist in the event
- Asian Games: gold, men’s 50 m rifle three positions team, Hangzhou 2023 (world record 1769)
- ISSF World Cup: silver, 50 m rifle three positions, Baku 2022
- World Championships: fourth, 50 m rifle three positions, Cairo 2022 (Olympic quota)
- Asian Championships: junior gold, 50 m rifle prone, Kuwait 2015
- Coach: Deepali Deshpande
- Arjuna Award, 2024 (announced January 2025)