PUNE/KOLHAPUR: It’s been over two months since Swapnil Kusale won a bronze medal at Paris Olympics, but the shooting champion says he is yet to hear officially about any reward from state govt.
Swapnil had clinched bronze in the men’s 50m rifle 3 Position event at the Paris Games on Aug 1. With this bronze, Swapnil became the only second athlete from Maharashtra to win an individual medal at the Olympics.The first athlete to win an individual medal, also a bronze, was wrestler Khashaba Jadhav at the 1952 Helsinki Games. Swapnil’s medal came after 72 years.
State govt had announced a Rs 1cr award a day after Swapnil won the bronze, but it hasn’t been communicated to him officially.
‘Special package’ yet to be announced
The Pune-based shooter Swapnil said he got to know about the prize money from newspapers.
While there was no official felicitation programme organized by govt, state minister Chandrakant Patil said govt was planning to offer a big govt post to Swapnil and that they were readying a “special package” for him. He said this at a function hosted by Gagan Narang‘s Gun For Glory academy in Balewadi. However, Patil was unavailable when TOI tried to contact him for his response to Kusale’s comment.
While there’s no sign of the ‘special package’, the shooter, who is a Railways employee, said he was told to apply for a regular state govt job. “I was told to fill in a form, but I decided not to pursue that because of the clauses. It says that the athlete would have to work from the office regularly after 5 years or once he/she turns 30, whichever is earlier. I am already 29 and shooting is my priority, hence I decided to give it a pass,” Swapnil said.
In Kolhapur, Swapnil’s father Suresh said the govt was prompt in announcing the big cash rewards for the T20 World Cup winning cricketers from the state. He also said states like Haryana have already honoured their athletes, while Maha govt was still not thinking about Swapnil.
Suresh Kusale said, “Two days ago, state govt declared that a gold medallist in the Olympics will receive Rs 5 crore, a silver medallist will receive Rs 3 crore, and a bronze medallist will receive Rs 2 crore. My question is, how many Olympic medals does Maharashtra have? If there are only two medals in the last 72 years, then what’s the point in setting criteria for medal amounts?”
Suresh Kusale added that in the 2024 Olympics, India received five individual medals, of which four were from Haryana and one from Maharashtra. “If Haryana govt, which is smaller in size and has less revenue than Maharashtra, is giving crores to Manu Bhaker, Neeraj Chopra, and Vinesh Phogat, then why can’t Maharashtra do the same? During the Ganesh festival, Swapnil and his friend met CM Eknath Shinde, requesting an increase in the amount declared by the state govt, but nothing has happened yet,” he said.
Haryana has already transferred the award money to the athletes accounts. With two bronze, Manu got Rs 2.5 crore for each medal, while Neeraj Chopra, who won silver, got Rs 4 crore. Shooter Sarabjot, who won mixed bronze with Manu, got Rs 2.5 crore. Wrestler Vinesh, who was disqualified from the final and lost her silver, was treated as a silver medallist and also got Rs 4 crore.