2024 was an exceptionally eventful year for Indian sport. At the end of the year, ESPN India picks ten images that tell the story of the most stunning moments we witnessed in the last 12 months. Our second pick is a moment when Swapnil Kusale' bronze went under the radar amidst the drama of the Paris Olympics.
Think back to India's performance at the Paris Olympics four months ago. What are the first images that come to mind? Maybe it's Manu Bhaker's two medals or Neeraj Chopra's "anger" at winning a silver or the hockey celebrations. These were certainly the more telegenic moments.
Amid this, it's easy to forget India's third medal at the Paris Games - Swapnil Kusale's bronze in 50m 3 Positions shooting. It's not entirely deliberate; after all, his medal came early on an action-packed, emotional rollercoaster of a day that saw four hopefuls in Nikhat Zareen, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, PV Sindhu and Sift Kaur Samra lose early.
But Kusale's bronze medal was an important milestone - India's first in the long-form format of 50m 3P; won by an unassuming, 28-year-old, an age almost considered too old in Indian shooting circles, and that too completing a personal redemption arc after one lapse in focus cost him an Asian Games gold. All the right elements for a sporting fairytale; yet a nearly forgotten achievement in the frenzy of constant Olympic action.
So here's a refresher: Kusale, from Maharashtra (which used to have a rich tradition of rifle shooting success), was the only Indian to reach a 50m final. This is the toughest discipline of shooting where you change three positions - kneeling on one knee, lying prone on your stomach, standing - and shoot at a distance as large as an Olympic swimming pool.
A measured, steady shooter who flew under the radar in predictions, Kusale did not have the best of starts in the final and had to work his way to the top. He was sixth among eight shooters after the kneeling stage and climbed to fifth after the prone stage. Not close to a medal yet. Then came the standing stage, the most unstable of them all in terms of support, and the stage where the eliminations begin. He started poorly again, with a 9.5, but gathered himself and shot several 10s to put himself in medal contention.
The moments leading up to the medal were jittery. At one point, he was in second place before a poor series pushed him to fourth but he pulled himself back. He then shot a couple of 9s to put him in the danger zone again. Just about a year back, he was in gold medal position at the Asian Games but a stray, unexpected 7.6 had thrown him off the podium. He couldn't afford that on the biggest of stages, and this time despite two nervy 9-point shots, he stayed on course.
Kusale was subdued in victory, his face not betraying a single emotion -- befitting elite shooting sport's best. Besides, he had missed a shot at silver by only a margin of 0.5. An Olympic medal is an Olympic medal though, and the smile returned as he went up the podium.
The first Indian to win a 50m shooting medal, India's last shooting medal won at the Paris Olympics. A medal to remember in Indian shooting's history books, a medal almost forgotten in the immediate aftermath.