New Delhi: Kishore Jena, the Indian javelin thrower who bagged a silver medal in the Asian Games 2022 said, he was on the brink of quitting the sport in 2023 after a string of poor performances but his father’s words of wisdom worked wonders, reviving his seemingly drowning career. Jena did admit that Neeraj Chopra’s golden triumph in the Tokyo Olympics 2020 motivated him to achieve more in his sport but it was difficult for him to get big throws.
This led him to the thoughts of quitting the sport in July last year right before the World Championships. “When Neeraj won at the Olympics, we celebrated and enjoyed his victory. But honestly, the victory also left me dejected because I too was playing the same sport. I felt it was time for me to achieve something in sports,” Jena said on a JioCinema show “The Dreamers”.
“I participated in Lebanon National Championships after a dip in my rankings and produced a throw of 78 metres. Despite giving it my all, I couldn’t achieve much. I started doubting if all the hard work was worth it. I called my father, who encouraged me to participate in next competition in Sri Lanka,” he added.
Although he was victorious in Lebanon (on July 21) with a throw of 78.96 metres, which was a modest attempt by any standard. In fact, Jena couldn’t even breach the 80-metre mark till the completion of 2022. His first throw that breached the 80 mark arrived in March 2023 during the Indian Grand Prix in Thiruvananthapuram where he touched 81.05 metres.
Jena still seemed dissatisfied and mulled on the upcoming Sri Lanka event to be his last attempt, after which he would call it quits. “I decided the event in Sri Lanka (July 30) would be my last attempt, after which I would quit and go back to prioritizing work and family. With God’s grace, I performed well, producing a throw of 84.38 metres, leading to my qualification for the World Championships,” he said.
World Championships and Asian Games triumph
Jena made it to the Budapest World Championships in August 2023 through the world ranking quota. However, he couldn’t breach the automatic qualification mark of 85.20 metres. Jena finished fifth in the final, achieving a personal best of 84.77 metres while Chopra won the gold with 88.17 metres.
He followed it up with another personal best of 87.54 metres at the Asian Games in Hangzhou where he clinched a silver just behind Chopra which secured his berth to Paris 2024. He further stressed that he wants to give his best in Paris and is quite confident. He hasn’t set any specific targets so far and is only looking to improve his personal best.
Jena currently struggles for form as he could breach the 80-metre mark just once (80.84m for bronze at the National Inter-State Championships in Panchkula in June) in the six events that he partook in after the World Championships.
Kishore Jena recently opened up about the tough phase that he went through last year which was filled with row of poor performances and how he almost quit the sport before his revival. Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
