Kishore Jena exclusive: Odisha javelin thrower opens up on Neeraj Chopra's influence, sets sights on Asian Games medal

Indians certainly are soaring high at the 19th Asian Games so far. Medals have been coming in thick and fast for them in Hangzhou to the point where 15 of them were added to their tally in just one day.

India went past the 70-medal mark on Wednesday to register their best-ever performance at the Games, surpassing their previous highest count that was achieved in Jakarta 2018.

Asian Games 2023: Updated medal tally

The track and field contingent has played a huge role in India’s rich haul so far in the Games with 23 medals, including four gold. On Wednesday, fans back home will be eagerly waiting for another couple of medals from the men’s javelin event, where superstar Neeraj Chopra will be in action alongside Kishore Jena, the former a runaway favourite to finish on top of the podium.

It is no secret that the spotlight will firmly be fixed on Chopra heading into the men’s javelin finals on the 11th day of competition. However, Odisha’s Jena could also spring a surprise at the event and is certainly a strong contender for a podium finish.

What will also aid Jena’s chances of walking away with a medal on Wednesday will be the absence of Arshad Nadeem, the Pakistani who has shared quite the rivalry with Chopra in recent events and has been ruled out of the Hangzhou Games with a knee injury.

Asian Games 2023: Day 11 LIVE updates

Nadeem’s absence, thus, boosts India’s hopes of a one-two finish in men’s javelin along with the gold medal won by Annu Rani in the women’s finals.

Jena however, isn’t too bothered about his competition at the event and is instead focused on his personal goals.

“I don’t really think along those lines. My objective is to improve upon my best performance, and in the process qualify for the Olympics and win a medal for the country. I just have to focus on giving my best performance on the day, and not really focus on what the others are up to,” Jena told Firstpost in an exclusive interaction.

The sports had traditionally been dominated by athletes from Germany and Finland but has witnessed the emergence of world beaters from the subcontinent of late. One therefore, might be inclined to think the level of competition might not be as fierce in the continental event as it would be in the Worlds and in the Olympics.

Not Jena though; he insisted he treats all the events the same and puts in as much effort in each of them. Jena was also confident of him and Chopra dishing out even better performances in the Asiad than what they had managed at the Worlds.

“We’re confident of success at the Asian Games, especially after what we achieved at the World Championships. You’ll get to see an even better performance from us (at Hangzhou).

“We don’t take any of the events lightly, and always aim to put our best foot forward,” added the 28-year-old.

Jena had recently dished out a superb performance in the World Championships final with a personal best effort of 84.77 metres to finish fifth. Compatriot DP Manu too had crossed the 84-metre mark to finish sixth, and for a pleasant change, there were three Indians in the top six, with Chopra of course winning gold ahead of Nadeem and making history in the process.

It was every bit a landmark moment for Indian athletics and deserves to be right up there with some of the biggest moments in Indian sporting history, a notion that finds a backer in Jena.

“It’s something that had never happened before, as nations such as Germany, Finland used to dominate javelin throw and would often dominate the podium across the world. The fact that this happened coupled with the fact that there is quite the craze for javelin in India at present and athletics is also getting a lot of attention. You’ll witness a lot more success in the years to come,” added Jena.

Except for Jena, the heroics in Budapest nearly didn’t happen, thanks to a rejection from the Hungarian Embassy for his visa application. Jena was ultimately helped out by both the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) as well as the Sports Authority of India (SAI), with Chopra too posting on X (formerly Twitter) seeking the Ministry of External Affairs’ intervention in the matter.

Just heard that there are issues with Kishore Jena’s VISA, preventing him from entering Hungary for the World C’ships. I hope the authorities are able to find a solution, as this is one of the biggest moments of his career. Let’s do everything we can.