Kishore Jena becomes first Odia to qualify for World Athletics Championship finals

Scripting history for Odisha, Kishore Jena has become the first athlete from the State to qualify for a final event of the World Athletics Championships held in Budapest, Hungary.

Jena secured 9th place among 12 athletes who have secured their berth for the final round of Javelin Throw in the championships.

While Jena hit 80.55 metres in his first attempt, his subsequent two attempts were not so encouraging. However, he anyways managed to secure a berth in the finals.

Notably, Jena's personal best javelin throw is 84.38 metres.

As expected, the ace javelin thrower, Neeraj Chopra is in the first position with an 88.77-metre throw in the qualifying round. Similarly, another Indian, DP Manu has also secured a birth in the finals. There are three Indians in the finals of the Javelin Throw for the very first time.

A total of 37 javelin throwers, divided into two groups - A and B - competed in the qualifiers for a place in the 12-man final, scheduled on Sunday. The automatic qualifying mark was 83.00m.

Those who threw 83m or the top-12 best performers from both groups A and B have qualified for Sunday's final.