From missing big medals to nailing the bigger one — the Swapnil story

There is serenity about Swapnil Kusale. There is simplicity in his demeanour. For an Olympic medallist, he retains the pristine character and underplays his achievement. He reminds that an Olympic gold is the goal, underlining the point that the mission is on.

Swapnil showed the audacity to defy the odds, and the best in the world, to win a bronze in the 50-metre rifle 3-position in the Paris Olympics. His category is one of the toughest in the Olympic shooting programme as one has to master shooting in the kneeling, prone and standing positions. There are so many variables that need attention. Compared to 10-metre air rifle, the 50-metre rifle 3-position is complicated as a shooter has to fire at a target five times the distance.

The celebration was subtle and even as the interviewers tried hard to trigger some excitement in Swapnil, he came up with short and measured answers.

“Winning the gold is my dream and ultimate goal. The next step is to win an Olympic gold for India. The bronze is just one step closer to that. I learnt a lot during the Paris Games and will add that to my journey… keep working towards my destination,” said Swapnil, in a free-wheeling conversation.

There was no question of the celebrations and felicitations distracting him from the Go For Gold assignment. “I am trying to enjoy everything that is going around me,” he said.

While those following Indian shooting closely were aware of Swapnil’s ability to strike the best medals, the others did not have a hint as he had not won anything exceptional in the lead-up to Paris, except for the World Cup silver in Baku in 2022. In fact, Swapnil had become ‘famous’ for missing the big medals in the Cairo World Championships and Hangzhou Asian Games.

In October 2022 in Cairo, when he won the Olympic quota, Swapnil missed a medal narrowly (0.3 points) in a format different to the one in the Games. In the Asian Games the next year, Swapnil was gunning for gold before a 7.6 derailed him and finished outside the podium by a close margin (0.8 points).

Instead of feeling gutted, Swapnil was fired up by these setbacks. “It was important to make sure that what happened [the mistakes] in Hangzhou and Cairo was not repeated in Paris. I worked with psychologist Vaibhav Agashe very closely on this. I was taught to handle such tough situations. I was told not to ponder much over them but look at the process and factors in my control. That improved my performance,” he revealed.

Despite not being at his best in the kneeling and prone positions, Swapnil stood tall in the standing segment.

Swapnil and Deepali.

“If you are competing in the Olympics, you need to be strong in all three positions. I knew I had to work on my standing position and make it stronger. During the training camps, I focused more on it. Deepali (Deshpande) and I worked together on making it better, deciding to concentrate on the next shot instead of the one earlier. It worked wonders. After the drill at the camps, it was easy to perform at the Olympics,” said Swapnil.

Influential role

Olympian Deepali played an influential role not only in preparing Swapnil — their partnership has lasted more than a decade — but also other rifle shooters (Anjum Moudgil, Sift Kaur Samra, Shriyanka Sadangi, Akhil Sheoran and Arjun Babuta). She was the National coach when the shooters competed in the Tokyo Olympics. Deepali stayed home and opted to operate remotely during the Paris campaign.

The seasoned Manoj Kumar, the National coach this time, did a remarkable job. “We had the best preparation going into the Olympics, particularly in the 50-metre event. Our shooters had given a fair hint of their prowess during the Asian Games in Hangzhou. We won five of the six possible medals, including two gold and two silver.

“Sift had a world record to boot. Only Swapnil had missed a medal. Even in the World Championships, the men’s team won a medal for the first time. Akhil finished on the podium at the World Championships later. I was sure that we could do something in the 50-metre competition,” said Manoj.

He explained that a specific task was taken up every month, including the key aspect of finding barrel-matching quality ammunition for the leading shooters. “We had competitions in Poland and Swapnil got a lot of confidence there, shooting high scores of 594 and 595 in qualification,” Manoj said.

The coach emphasised that he knew Swapnil was capable of winning a medal, but the only concern was his patience.

“I asked him to give his 100%, showing patience and preparation for each shot. Usually, he takes an hour to finish his qualification. In one training match in windy conditions, he was done in 45 minutes. I told him he had to learn and not just throw away the ammunition,” said Manoj.

Fortunately, Swapnil took it positively and worked patiently on his shot-preparation. “In the final, he was in the zone and looked good for gold,” recalled Manoj. Swapnil missed a bigger medal by the barest of margins (0.1 point).

The coach revealed that Swapnil had switched off his mobile 10 days before the Paris sojourn and considerable effort was taken for the steady ‘no movement’ during his standing position. “We had to ensure a balance in training for the three without overdoing a position or under-training in another,” said the coach.

The Olympics had a new rule: the final will be held the day after the qualification. That provided the world-class shooters time to recover and refocus. “After qualification, I was very hungry as I had not had breakfast. At the Games, you have butterflies in the stomach and in no mood to grab a bite before the competition. I went to an Indian restaurant and had my fill,” said Swapnil.

Physio and nutritionist chip in

“It was back to the normal routine of taking rest and working on my physical fitness. Physio Sumita (Jain) was very helpful. My nutritionist, Kalyani (Mankar), kept a close watch on my diet all along. I used to send her photos of my meals and she would approve, ensuring that I ate the right things at the right time. As I am lactose intolerant, I need to be extra careful. As I have vegetarian food, everything had to be right. A disciplined diet is vital for an athlete,” he said.

Was it easy or difficult to sleep well the night before the final?

“No athlete can sleep before a final and it was the same with me. It was a disturbed sleep, but I made up my mind to get proper rest. After the training before the event, the confidence level soars,” said Swapnil, adding that he was mentally prepared to compete in the final the same day or the next. After going through many formats, he knew the trick for delivering his best.

“When the final is on the second day, we have a little more time to prepare, but it is important to use it well. A lot of athletes feel the pressure during such situations. I used to be with the physio because I felt quite comfortable, and that helped me a lot,” he said.

The key to Swapnil’s success was the way he used the knowledge and experience of the experts around him.

How did he tap into the best of the three coaches (Deepali, Manoj and former World champion Thomas Farnik, who had made three Olympic finals)? “I used to inform Deepali about my training because I have worked with her since my younger days. The three coaches share a good bond and were all supportive,” he said.

Swapnil flanked by Farnik and Manoj.

Though it was a collective decision that Deepali would not take the flight to France, did Swapnil miss her during the Games? “Madam had prepared us well for the Paris Olympics. She noticed the important things… what was needed and what was not needed for me. She motivated me a lot during my Paris days. She boosted my confidence by saying that I was ready for all challenges. It felt like she was with me in Paris,” said Swapnil.

He also recalled how, around two years back, he had to send his rifle with Akhil Sheoran and Shriyanka Sadangi for barrel testing and buying the right ammunition.

“The ammo we got at that time was so good that I used it in Cairo and Hangzhou. I had saved it to use some at the Olympics as well. In February this year, the whole team went barrel testing. We trained very hard there. Whenever we trained outside, we learnt new things that built our confidence,” said Swapnil.

Deepali, however, felt that the preparation could have been slightly better, especially in terms of the time at the Olympic shooting range in Chateauroux, but felt that she was right in staying home as the rifle shooters had prepared with depth and focus.

“Swapnil did have a lot of complaints before the team left from the Bhopal camp, but after his pre-event training in Paris, he felt better,” said Deepali, who competed in the 2004 Athens Olympics and had worked diligently with the junior shooters as the National coach.

“We could have had better results. Arjun (Babuta) was best prepared, but was unlucky to miss a medal. He had just one nine, a 9.9 in the final, and he was perhaps rattled. Right through the qualification (60 shots), he did not have a single 9,” said Deepali.

The coach did confess that Sift, in her maiden Olympics, probably needed her presence in Paris. “It has been a spectacular rise for Sift but she had not seen the downside. You do tend to go down a bit and it happened for her at the Olympics,” felt Deepali.

Swiftly shifting her focus to Swapnil and his medal-winning run, Deepali said the 29-year-old shooter had the advantage of being strong and physically fit right through his career.

Deepali had first seen Swapnil in 2013 when he was close to making the final at the National championship.

“Swapnil has a strong self-image. He believes that he is a good shooter and that adds to his confidence. Soon after his first year, he was beating experienced shooters like Gagan Narang and Chain Singh. The missing aspect of quality equipment was well addressed as we got the right weapon and ammunition. Over the years, Swapnil and Akhil have handled the format and equipment changes. You need to keep adapting to the tweaks, and tune the motor skill,” said Deepali.

Conceding that the Olympic Games was a different ball game, Deepali felt that it was important to show patience and alacrity. Now that the blanks of the previous two Olympics in Rio and Tokyo have been filled with three medals in Paris, she is confident that the next Olympic cycle would see a quantum jump in performance.

“After Swapnil won, he showed me the medal on video. He was at peace, not flamboyant,” said Deepali. “This is just the beginning. We will have golden shows in the next Olympics at LA (Los Angeles)”.