MEN WE LOVE

FROM PIONEERS OF PROGRESS TO ICONS OF INFLUENCE, VISIONARY FILMMAKERS TO BOUNDARY-PUSHING DESIGNERS, DARING ATHLETES TO GROUNDBREAKING ARTISTS, FEMINA’S MEN'S SPECIAL 2024 IS A CELEBRATION OF THE PEOPLE WHO ARE RESHAPING THE LANDSCAPE OF SUCCESS ON THEIR OWN TERMS. THIS IS OUR SALUTE TO MEN WHO INSPIRE, ELEVATE, AND, ABOVE ALL, ACE THE GAME!

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SWAPNIL KUSALE

PROFESSIONAL SHOOTER: BRONZE MEDAL WINNER AT THE PARIS 2024 OLYMPICS 50M RIFLE 3 POSITIONS

This year, 29-year-old Swapnil Kusale won a bronze medal in shooting – the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions final, to be precise – at the Paris 2024 Olympics. When we ask him if there’s anything that he would change, the reply is, “Nothing. All my hard work has culminated in a medal on such a big stage. To represent India on the world stage and achieve a historic victory is special. I cannot ask for anything more… (except) maybe the colour of my medal,” he adds, jokingly. Interestingly, even with his third position in the global games, he is the first Indian to have won in this discipline. A commendable feat in itself.

Swapnil was born in 1995 in Kambalwadi, a small village near Kolhapur, into an agricultural family. His father, a school teacher, quickly recognised his potential in sports and enrolled him in the Maharashtra governmentrun sports programme Krida Prabhodini, where he came across rifle shooting and chose it as his specialty. That he had a promising career in the field, quickly became apparent at the numerous national and international championships at which he earned spots on the podium. In the years leading up to the Paris 2024 Olympics, he impressed audiences at the International Shooting Sport Federation’s World Cup and World Championship competitions, almost always clinching gold medals.