Swapnil Kusale

Swapnil Kusale is an Indian sport shooter from Maharashtra, supported by OGQ. Kusale made it to the Paris Olympics at the final selection trials held at Bhopal on 17 May 2024.

Early life
Kusale was born in 1995, in the family of a farmer. In 2009, his father enrolled him into Maharashtra government's primary programme dedicated to Sports, Krida Prabhodini. After one year of hardcore physical training, he had to choose one sport and he chose shooting. From 2013, he is sponsored by Lakshya Sports.

Career
In 2015, he won gold in 50m rifle prone 3 in the junior category in 2015 Asian Shooting Championships in Kuwait. He also won the 59th National Shooting Championship held in Tughlakabad ahead of Gagan Narang and Chain Singh in 50m rifle prone event. He repeated the same performance in 61st National Championship in Thiruvananthapuram by winning a gold in 50m rifle 3 position.

On 17 May 2024, he made it to the Indian team for Paris Olympics 2024 in the 50m rifle 3 positions event after taking part in the final Olympics trials held at the MP State Shooting Academy Ranges in Bhopal. It was the fourth and final trial after the first three held in Delhi and Bhopal. Earlier in 2022, he won the Olympic quota berth in the men’s 50-metre rifle 3-position event with a fourth place at the World championship in Cairo, Egypt on 22 October. An Olympic quota berth is earned by the athlete for the country and the sports federation selects the final team in each discipline of the sport after selection trials. Hence, some athletes who won the Olympic berth may still miss the Olympics. Despite finishing fifth in the final trials, Kusale was selected as a second shooter based on his high scores in the first three trials.