Javelin thrower from Odisha, Kishore Jena bagged a Silver medal at the Asian Games as India ensured a podium lock-out with Olympic Gold medalist Neeraj Chopra bagging the gold medal in the javelin event.
In his third attempt in the finals, Kishore overtook Neeraj Chopra's 84.49m with a personal best throw of 86.77m.
Then Neeraj came back stronger with his season's best & gold-medal clinching throw of 88.88 m. In his subsequent throw, Kishore Jena further improved to 86.77 m.
However, a huge controversy erupted after Neeraj's first throw which looked above the 85m mark and, was not counted, but after a long discussion between the officials and Neeraj, they decided that the Indian should re-throw his first attempt due to the technical glitch on their part.
The glitch happened yet again, and this time it was Kishore Jena who was shown a red flag in his second throw for crossing the throwing line, although he didn't cross the line.
After a discussion with the officials, he was shown the white flag.
PM Narendra Modi took to X handle and congratulated Kishore Jena for his accomplishment.
"Our accomplishments in Men's Javelin at Asian Games are remarkable. The Silver also comes to India. Congratulations to Kishore Jenafor winning this splendid Silver in the event. The nation cherishes this victory," the PM's post read.
After Kishore's feat, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik announced Rs 1.5 crore cash reward for the javelin thrower. "Kishore has created a historic moment. His success will be an inspiration for other," said Naveen Patnaik while assuring all help for Olympic preparations.
"I am very happy after seeing him achieve his life's best throw. I had wished him ahead of his throw and he had also replied. He is a very calm person and he never said no to any challenges," said his coach, Nilamadhav Deo.
Joy and celebrations erupted in Kishore's village in Brahmagiri Kotha Sahi of Puri district.
"I had prayed a lot for him. Now I am happy that he has achieved success in the Asian Games," said Kishore's mother.
"He was into Volleyball earlier. When he went to Bhubaneswar, his coach said that he should focus on Javelin. He started in 2018 and since then he has never looked back," said a villager.
(Inputs from agencies)