On an empty stomach and with his heart racing, Indian shooter Swapnil Kusale kept his composure to stage a remarkable comeback and help the country claim its first ever Olympic bronze in the 50m rifle 3 positions event here on Thursday.
Kusale shot an aggregate of 451.4 in the eight-shooter final to finish third after being placed sixth at one stage. It took the country's overall tally to three, all bronze in shooting, at the Paris Games.
His medal comes following the stunning performance of Manu Bhaker, who clinched the women's 10m air pistol and mixed team 10m air pistol bronze alongside Sarabjot Singh.
"I did not eating anything, was feeling the butterflies (in my stomach). Just had black tea and came here. The night before every match, I just pray to god," Kusale said after his unprecedented achievement.
"Today the heartbeat was on the higher side. I just tried to control my breathing and did not try anything different. Everyone is more or less the same at this level," he added.
Kusale, whose father and brother are teachers in a district school and his mother the sarpanch of Kambalwadi village near Kolhapur in Maharashtra, finished behind China's Yukun Liu (463.6) and Ukraine's Serhiy Kulish (461.3).
The last time a 50m rifle shooter made it to the Olympic finals was in 2012 London when Joydeep Karmakar finished fourth in 50m rifle prone event, which has been discontinued at the Olympics.
"To be honest, I did not see the scoreboard. It was my years of hardwork and that is what I kept in mind while shooting. I was listening to the announcements of scores but was ignoring it. I just wanted the Indian supporters to keep cheering for me," he said.
Kusale, who was a Railways Ticket Collector and draws inspiration from cricket icon MS Dhoni, was slow to start with but fought his way back to bag the third prize in his very first appearance in the world's biggest sporting spectacle.
"Actually, I don't go for railway work. The Indian railways has given me 365 days leave to perform well for India. My personal coach Deepali Deshpande is like a mother to me. She has supported me unconditionally. I have not spoken to my mother yet," Kusale said.
He was in the fourth place after the first standing series. Considered a high-scoring round, Kusale's first shot of the final in kneeling was a lowly 9.6, but he made an excellent recovery after that.
A 10.6 and 10.3 saw Kusale jump momentarily into the second place. But a 9.1 and a 10.1 in his next attempts pushed him back to fourth.
However, a 10.3 propelled him to the third place and he maintained that position to win a medal.
He was placed sixth at 153.3 at the end of kneeling stage and by the time the prone stage concluded, he was fifth with a total of 310.1.
In the final stages of the competition, Kusale upped his game and joined Bhaker and Sarabjot in the list of medal winners in this edition of the Games.
The 28-year-old has been competing in international events since 2012 but he had to wait 12 years to make his Olympics debut at the Paris Games.
"May be I was not as strong mentally. All my coaches and support staff helped me a lot. They gave me a lot of emotional support," he said when asked why it took him so long to be at the biggest stage.
Kusale, who finished seventh in a tightly-contested qualification on Wednesday, has been working for Central Railways since 2015 and has watched the biopic of World Cup winner Dhoni multiple times. "I don't follow anyone specific in the shooting world. Outside of that, I admire Dhoni for the person that he is. My sport requires me to be as calm and patient as he is on the field.
"I also relate to his story as I am a ticket collector like he was," Kusale had told PTI after finishing seventh in the qualification here on Wednesday.
