India won the third medal in the Paris Olympics. Swapnil Kusale won bronze by finishing third in the 50m rifle three event. Swapnil became the first Indian to win a medal in the 50m rifle event. This is Swapnil’s Olympic debut. And he made history for the first time.
He finished third in the final with 451.4 points. In Thursday’s 50m rifle three final, Swapnil finished sixth with 153.3 points. At the end of the first round, he finished fifth with 310.1 points. Swapnil was just 0.6 points behind Ukraine’s Sergei Kulish in third place. The Indian shooter came fourth with 51.1 points in the first five standing shots. His point difference from third place was only 0.4. From there, he secured the medal by picking up consecutive points.
The 50m Rifle Three Final consists of three rounds of 15 shots each. Shooting is done while kneeling, standing, and lying down. Then there is the elimination round. Swapnil was seventh in the qualifying round. From there, he performed brilliantly in the final and brought India a medal. All three of India’s medals at the Paris Olympics came from shooting. Manu Vokker won two and Swapnil one medal.
