All eyes on Odia javelin thrower Kishore Jena as he gets ready for World Championships Final

Sports lovers across Odisha will be glued to the television as the State’s ace athlete Kishore Jena will ply his trade in the final of the Javelin throw event at the World Athletics Championships 2023 in Budapest on Sunday.

A couple of days back, Jena made history after qualifying for the final of the Javelin throw event at the World Athletics Championships.

The 27-year-old came up with a throw of 80.55 metres in the qualifying event on Friday. It was enough to secure him a place in Sunday’s final. Jena is on the ninth spot among the 12 athletes who have entered the final of the Javelin throw event.

As per Jena’s coach Samarjeet Singh Malhi, the Odisha athlete has it in him to make the final eight.

“Considering it was his first big-ticket event, he did really well. He was a bit nervous, but I expect him to better his personal best during the final and go the distance,” said Samarjeet.

The two-time national champion has a personal best throw of 84.38m. A cadet of the Bhubaneshwar Sports Hostel and Odisha RF Athletics HPC, Jena will be going up against his compatriots Neeraj Chopra and DP Manu both of whom qualified for the final from Group A.

Ace javelin thrower Neeraj will have a tough fight with Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem for the coveted gold medal. Chopra, the Tokyo Olympic gold medalist will be among the front-runners for the medals along with his fellow Indians Jena and Manu, for the first time in history. The three Indian athletes will be lining up in the top 12 athletes of the javelin throw event.