India has secured its 3rd medal of the Paris Olympics. All 3 have come in shooting. This makes this the most successful shooting performance for India in the history of the Olympics. Swapnil Kusale has won a Bronze Medal for India in the 50M Rifle 3 Positions. The three positions are kneeling, prone and standing.
Let’s look at the Results of the Final in details:
Men’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions Final Results
In the 50M Rifle 3 Positions Final there are a total of 40 shots in the first phase of the final. There are 15 shots in the kneeling position then 15 shots in the prone position and then 10 shots in the standing position. After the 40 shots 2 shooters are eliminated and then a shooter is eliminated after one shot. The opponents of Swapnil Kusale were –
Liu Yukun of China
Serhiy Kulish of Ukraine
Jiri Privratsky of Czech Republic
Jon- Hermann Hegg of Norway
Lucas Kryzs of France
Tomasz Bartnik of Poland
Lazar Kovacevic of Serbia
Kneeling Position
The first series was the kneeling series. Swapnil did not start well as he hit a 9.6 with his first shot. However he came back strong with shots of 10.4, 10.3, 10.5 and 10.0 in the first round of 5 shots. It was time for the second kneeling series. He hit a 10.1 in the first shot and a 9.9 in the second. After that he hit 10.3, 10.5 and 10.1. He had a total of 101.7 points after 10 shots. Swapnil Kusale in the last kneeling series hit 10.5, 10.4, 10.3 and the last 2 shots were 10.2 each. He was at 6th place after 15 shots. The kneeling position is over and the athletes will have 7 minutes to get into the prone position and this is where the highest scores are made in this event.
Prone Position
The prone position started and Swapnil Kusale had a great start to this series. He hit 10.5 as his first shot and then he followed that with 10.6, 10.5 and then another 10.6 and 10.5. In the second series of shots from the prone position he hit a brilliant 10.8 as his first shot which he followed by 10.2, 10.5, 10.4 and 10.3. Then in the last series of prone position shots he hit 10.5, 10.4, 10.4, 10.2 and 10.4.
Standing Position
Swapnil Kusale and the other shooters now had 9 minutes to get ready for the standing position shots. This was the most difficult position and the shots were less and less in the 10.0 and above range. This is the series that allowed Swapnil Kusale to get ahead in the standings. He started the standing series with a 9.5 but he quickly turned it around with a brilliant 10.7 which he followed it with 10.3, 10.6 and 10.0. In the final series of 40 shots he hit 10.6 as his first shot. He hit 10.3 as his second shot and then a 9.1. He had to close strong and he hit 10.1 and 10.3 as his Final 2 shots.
Elimination Rounds
After the 40 shots 2 shooters were eliminated in the 7th and 8th position. They were Tomasz Bartnik and Lazar Kovacevic. Then it was one shot and a shooter will be eliminated. At 6th place was Lucas Kryzs of France with 418.9. In number 5 was Jon- Hermann Hegg of Norway with 430.2. In 4th place was Jiri Privratsky with 440.7. Swapnil Kusale won the Bronze Medal with a score of 451.4. The Gold Medal was won by Liu Yukun from China with 463.3 points. Silver Medal was won by Serhiy Kulish from Ukraine.
About Swapnil Kusale
Swapnil Kusale was born on 6th August 1995 in Kolhapur in Maharashtra. In 2010, Swapnil Kusale chose the sport of shooting. In the year 2015, he was a ticket collector with the Indian Railways and that helped him get his first rifle. Swapnil Kusale has also won a Bronze Medal at the 2022 World Championships in the 50M Rifle 3 Positions Team Event. This is the first Olympic Games Medal for Swapnil Kusale.
India’s Medal at Paris Olympics 2024:
