Chateauroux: Shooter Swapnil Kusale added a third medal to India’s tally, winning a bronze medal in the 50m Rifle 3 Positions at the Paris Olympics here on Thursday. The 28-year-old said he kept his breath in control and did not glance at the leaderboard during his final.
Kusale also became the first Indian shooter to win an Olympic medal in the Men’s 50m 3 Position event. It was also the third shooting medal in the rifle event after Abhinav Bindra’s gold in the 10m air rifle in the Beijing Olympics 2008 and Gagan Narang’s bronze in the same event in the London Olympics 2012.
Kusale shot a score of 451.4, to finish behind China’s Yukun Liu (gold) and Ukraine’s Serhiy Kulish (silver). He had ended seventh in the qualification round with a total score of 590.
“I feel great. I was a little nervous and my heart is still racing. Ultimately, it’s a sport and I’m proud to have brought home a bronze for India,” Kusale said after clinching a medal for the country.
“I didn’t target anything and just focussed solely on my breathing. I was not looking at the leaderboard and sticking to what I’d been practicing for many years. I was also neglecting the leaderboard announcement as I only wanted the Indian fans to make noise. It was making me feel good and I wanted to see them happy,” he added.
The man from Kolhapur felt short on words to express his feelings about holding the medal in his hands but remained committed to being grounded.
“I’m not sure if I’ll feel different when I will have the medal in my hands. I definitely feel something inside, but I’m just used to staying grounded,” he said.
Detailing his mindset in the final, Kusale said he kept things simple and didn’t focus on minimum points in any particular event.
“In my mind, I wasn’t targetting any particular points in each event and was focussing on procedures and kept on doing them. I didn’t see anything else and I’m proud of that,” he said.
About his routine before the final on Thursday, Kusale said he did not have anything to eat.
“There were butterflies in my stomach, so I just had black tea (before the final). I love drinking tea but I can’t have it so I drank black tea. Every time, before the match, I chant God’s name,” the Indian shooter added.
(IANS)
