'To be honest I did not see the scoreboard. It was my years of hard work. That is what I kept in mind while shooting.'
Swapnil Kusale doesn't quite know just why it has taken him so long to be at the Olympics, where he ended up with a medal on debut on Thursday.
A medal that is definitely life-changing for him personally but also historic in significance for Indian shooting given that it's the first time that a rifle shooter has succeeded in the physically draining 50m 3 positions shooting event.
Ask him why it took him so long to arrive, he was as candid as one can be.
"May be I was not as strong mentally," says the 28-year-old son of a teacher father and sarpanch mother from Kambalwadi village in Maharashtra's Kolhapur.
Kusale began shooting in 2009, made his international debut in 2012 but it took him another 12 years to make his Olympic debut.
The 50m rifle shooter was not in the scheme of things at the Rio Games in 2016 and missed out on a Tokyo 2020 berth narrowly as per the then selection criteria which gave more importance to performance in international events.
He did not leave anything to chance for the Paris Games. He secured a quota place for India with a fourth place finish in the 50m rifle three positions at 2022 World Championships before maintaining the consistency in the domestic trials in March and April earlier this year.
Expectations were higher from the much younger Aishwary Pratap Tomar in the 50m rifle three positions but it was Kusale who made history by becoming the first finalist from India in the event.
Despite feeling the butterflies in the stomach on the morning of the final, Kusale was able to control his emotions to land a historic bronze.
"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," said Kusale, a ticket collector with Indian Railways who doesn't have to report for duty because of his shooting commitments.
An opening shot of 9.6 showed that the nerves were indeed there but he regained focus to produce a highly consistent show in kneeling, prone and standing position.
His four 9s came in 'Kneeling' and 'Standing' while he scored with higher 10s regularly in the 'Prone' position. However, it was the high 10s in the Standing position that pushed him into medal reckoning.
National coach Manoj Kumar said Kusale's bronze was a result of razor-sharp focus over the last three months.
"It may not seem that way on the outside but we always knew that Swapnil could get us a medal. After the final, we had a long chat about how to maintain focus while shooting. I asked him to read Gita and that also helped him immensely," said Manoj.
During the high-pressure final, Kusale made a conscious effort to not pay attention to the scores and just wanted to worry about his breathing and shooting.
"To be honest I did not see the scoreboard. It was my years of hard work. That is what I kept in mind while shooting.
"I was listening to the announcements of scores but ignoring it. I just wanted the Indian supporters to keep cheering for me."
Haven't spoken to family yet
He also gave due credit to his parents, including his sarpanch mother and personal coach Deepali Deshpande.
"I am yet to speak to the sarpanch (laughs). And what do I say about Deepali mam? She is like a second mother to me," said an emotional Kusale.
He also made a promise to himself before the Olympics, which he was not able to fulfill despite the unexpected medal.
He did not divulge the details of the promise though, but he is not going to settle for anything less than gold going forward.
"The promise has not been fulfilled," he said.
After an outcome that is desired by every Olympian, Kusale also etched his name in the history books of Indian sport, much like his role model Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who, like the shooter, was a Railways ticket collector early in his career.
On Thursday, Kusale certainly made both Dhoni and India proud!
