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Journalism of Courage
Swapnil Kusale, 29, who won a bronze medal in the men’s 50-metre rifle three-positions event at the Paris 2024 Olympics reacted to Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat’s disqualification in the final match. The shooter, who hails from a rural family in the Kolhapur district of Maharashtra, returned to Pune to a rousing welcome at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Sports Complex, Balewadi, on Thursday.
“Being an athlete myself I understand what Vinesh Phogat is going through. It takes a lot for an athlete to reach the Olympics, and being so close to winning and not winning can be really hard,” said Kusale.
Phogat was on the cusp of making history after becoming the first Indian woman to qualify for an Olympic wrestling final. However, the 29-year-old failed to make weight, missing the cut by 100 gram during the weigh-in on Wednesday morning, leading to her disqualification from the 50 kg category event.
Speaking further, Kusale, who worked as a ticket clerk in the Central Railway since 2015 and was promoted to the post of Officer on Special Duty (OSD) after his Olympic feat, said he is now aiming for a gold.
“The bronze which I own doesn’t belong to me and my family, it’s for every single person of this nation. Currently I’m planning to take a break for a few months. Then, I will be gearing up again with regular training sessions. My next target is gold for India,” said Swapnil.
The victory parade saw a heavily garlanded Kusale flanked by his parents and family members arriving at the sports complex amid enthusiastic slogans. His parents were also felicitated by Pune District’s Guardian Minister Chandrakant Patil.
General Pawan Singh, Joint Secretary of the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), who was in attendance, said the three positions shooting has been dominated by European shooters in the past. “This category didn’t have Indian participants before. So to make the athletes understand the land, weather and fellow shooters better, the federation organised a camp in France a year before the Paris Olympics 2024,” said Singh.
Swapnil’s father Suresh Kusale said, “We had to give up our land to help Swapnil pursue his passion for shooting. Today, we are extremely proud that all his struggles are paying off.”
Dipali Deshpande, his coach based in Pune, said, “You can’t compete with nations like China and US at the Olympics without discipline and respect for the game. After the Asian games mess-up, we made him (Kusale) work on his standing position and our aim was for perfection not gold.”
