| Swapnil Kusale | |
| Nationality: | Indian |
| Birth Date: | 1995 8, df=yes[1] |
| Birth Place: | Kambalwadi, Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India[2] |
| Years Active: | 2012–present |
| Sport: | Shooting |
| Coach: | Deepali Deshpande |
| Show-Medals: | yes |
Swapnil Kusale (born 6 August 1995) is an Indian sport shooter who competes in 50 metre rifle three positions. He won the bronze medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in the men's 50 metre rifle three positions event.
Kusale was born on 6 August 1995, in Kambalwadi village in Kolhapur district.[2] In 2009, his father enrolled him into Maharashtra government's Krida Prabhodini sports programme. After one year of intense physical training, Kusale had to choose one sport and ended up choosing shooting.[3] In 2015, he became a ticket collector for the Indian Railways in Pune, which helped him buy his first rifle.[4]
In 2015, he won gold in 50m rifle prone 3 in the junior category in 2015 Asian Shooting Championships in Kuwait.[5] In the same year, he also won the 59th National Shooting Championship held in Tughlakabad ahead of Gagan Narang and Chain Singh in 50m rifle prone event.[6] In 2017, he repeated the same performance in 61st National Championship in Thiruvananthapuram by winning a gold in 50m rifle 3 position.[7]
In October 2022, he earned an Olympic quota berth for India in the men's 50-metre rifle 3 position event with a fourth place finish at the 2022 ISSF World Shooting Championships in Cairo.[8] In May 2024, he was selected in the Indian Olympic team in the 50m rifle 3 positions event after the trials in Delhi and Bhopal.[9] Despite finishing 5th in the final trial, Kusale was selected in the team as the second shooter based on his scores in the first three trials.[10]
At the 2024 Olympics, Kusale became the first Indian to qualify for the final of the men's 50 metre rifle three positions event,[11] and won the bronze medal with a score of 451.4 in the final.[12]
He joined joined Central Railway in 2015 as a Travelling Ticket Examiner(TTE). He was requesting for a promotion for years. Post his Bronze-medal winning achievement, he was given a double promotion and has been promoted to the post of Officer on Special Duty (OSD), Sports Cell in Mumbai.