Shooter Swapnil Kusale wins bronze, India's third medal of Paris Olympics

The Indian shooting contingent continued to fire medals on day six of the Paris Olympics, with Swapnil Kusale winning a bronze medal in men's 50m Rifle 3 Positions event with a score of 451.4.

China's Liu Yukun won gold with a total score of 463.6 and Ukraine shooter Serhiy Kulish's 461.3 clinched him the silver medal.

PARIS OLYMPICS LIVE UPDATES: DAY 6

It's the third medal of the Paris Games for India and third bronze, after Manu Bhaker clinched a bronze in the women's 10m air pistol event to open India's account, followed by another bronze in the 10m air pistol mixed team event won by the pair of Manu and Sarabjot Singh.



It's the first time that India have won three shooting medals in a single edition of the Olympics. Before this, Gagan Narang and Vijay Kumar won a bronze and a silver, respectively, at the London Games in 2012.

"My heartbeat is still very fast," Swapnil told JioCinema after his bronze-medal win. "I was focusing on my breathing, not bothered about the score. Just did what I had practised over the years."



Kusale was fifth at the end of of kneeling and prone-position rounds with a total score of 310.1. During the standing position elimination round, the Indian shooter consistently maintained a place in the top-four, ultimately clinching the bronze medal.

The 28-year-old Kusale was part of the 50m 3P men's team that won gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year. He is first-ever Indian to qualify for an Olympic final of the men's 50m rifle 3 position and now the first Olympic medallist for the country in the event.

Swapnil, one of the 44 shooters in the qualifying round, secured the seventh spot with a score of 590. Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar missed the final, finishing in 11th place.