Indian Railways to honor Swapnil Kusale with double promotion after Paris Olympics 2024 heroics
India’s rifle shooter Swapnil Kusale scripted history on Thursday, August 1, after becoming the first Indian shooter to win an Olympic medal in the 50m rifle 3 positions event. After his bronze medal heroics, the Indian Railways has decided to honor him with a double promotion.
According to a report published by The Times of India, Kusale has been employed as a Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) with the Indian Railways since 2015. However, his file was stuck in the Central Railways office as his request for promotion was denied multiple times.
When he recently requested the promotion, the 28-year-old shooter was asked to report to the office before traveling to Paris. However, he was busy training.
“He has been working with the Railways for the past nine years, but was never considered for promotion,” Swapnil Kusale's coach Deepali Deshpande told TOI.
"He was asked to report to the office before going to Paris to get his promotion file pushed. Swapnil didn't go to the office since he was busy training," she added.
“His promotion was not held back” - Central Railways respond after Swapnil Kusale’s Olympic heroics
After Swapnil Kusale won India's third Paris Olympics 2024 medal on Thursday, Central Railways Assistant Sports Officer Renjith Maheshwari said the shooter will likely receive a double promotion before the end of the week. Maheshwari also claimed that his promotion was never held back.
"This is incorrect information. His promotion was not held back. We have spoken to the general manager and hopefully, he will get a double promotion in two days,” Renjith told TOI.
Moving into the details of the 50m rifle 3 positions final, Chinese shooter Liu Yukun won the gold medal with a total of 463.6 points while Ukraine’s Serhiy Kulish bagged the silver medal with 461.3 points. Kusale scored 451.4 to settle for the bronze medal.
This was Swapnil Kusale’s Olympic debut. He secured his Olympic quota after finishing fourth at the 2022 ISSF World Shooting Championships in Cairo. The Indian contingent has bagged three medals in Paris so far, all of which have come in shooting.
Pistol shooter Manu Bhaker initiated India’s account in the medal tally with a bronze in the 10m Air Pistol event. Later, she bagged another bronze medal alongside Sarabjot Singh in the 10m Air Pistol mixed team event.