Swapnil Kusale returned home on Thursday to a grand welcome after winning the bronze medal at the Paris Olympics in the 50m rifle 3 positions event last week. The Olympian from Maharashtra soon proceeded to seek Ganpati’s blessings and dedicated the medal to the country and state.

Kusale, who’s from Kambalwadi village near Kolhapur in Maharashtra, expressed gratitude towards his family and coaches for their sacrifice to ensure his success. He has so far been one of India’s two individual medal winners — both in shooting — at the Paris Games and his bronze was the third in addition to Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh’s tally in the sport.

On arriving in Pune, the 29-year-old proceeded to the Dagdusheth Halwai Ganpati temple in the city to seek the lord’s blessing.

“I wanted to worship Bappa (as Ganesh or Ganpati is adoringly referred to in Maharashtra) first and do the aarti. It’s my second home and I get good sleep here,” the bronze medallist said.

“This medal is not mine, it is for the whole country and Maharashtra’s. It is for everyone who supported me, the government, the national federation. I am lucky that I could bring glory to Maharashtra,” he told mediapersons at the Balewadi Sports Complex during a felicitation event.

Kusale’s next target? Aim for the gold medal.

“The coaches and family members do a lot of hard work, also because they have made a lot of sacrifices, sending one of their family members somewhere (for competitions),” he said.

“The athlete keeps working on his training but all those who are behind him, they have to make a lot of sacrifices so I will give them a lot of credit.”

“The hard work through the years, getting a medal after going through the Covid pandemic, lacking supporters... I eventually began shooting well and got the sponsors too,” he shared.

Kusale, who also became the first Indian to qualify for the final in the event, said
he learned to handle pressure along the way.

“My family never told me what was happening at home but they gave me everything that I asked for. They never let me feel what they lacked. Now I am determined to ensure that they don’t lack anything,” he promised.

“Talking about the pressure (in the final), I wanted to handle that and focus on shooting. I was imagining my team and Indian fans behind me and their noise was something I wanted to hear.

“There were people from other countries too but I only wanted to focus the noise from the Indians and use that to bring a medal,” he said.