Swapnil Kusale is the man of the moment. With him having won the bronze medal for India in the men's 50m 3 positions on Thursday (August 1) to help India get their third medal in the ongoing event, he deserves all the attention that he has been receiving.
Swapnil accumulated a total of 451.1 points and was even in with a chance to better the colour of his medal and might have missed the chance, his achievement deserves a special mention. What makes his achievement even more special is the fact that it was his maiden appearance at the Summer Olympic Games.
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MS Dhoni Connection Of Swapnil Kusale
However, not many would be aware of the MS Dhoni connection of India's now Olympic-medal winning shooter. Kusale began his shooting career with Maharashtra government's sports development program Krida Prabhidini in 2009. It was after an year of intensive training that Swapnil closed in on shooting as his preferred sport.
Kusale went on to win the gold medal in the junior category of the 50m rifle prone event at the Asian Shooting Championships in Kuwait. He even won the 59th National Shooting Championship in Tughlakabad in which he proved to be better than some of his more celebrated contemporaries.
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While his rise in his sporting career is well-documented what is similar in his and MS Dhoni's journey is both were employed by Central Railways. Kusale has been a government employee since 2015 and managed to do a day job as a ticket collector- the same job that Dhoni did at the Kharagpur railway station before making his India debut. Much like Dhoni, Kusale has managed to make the country proud with the nation hoping for many more achivements coming his way in the time to come.