Odisha’s accidental javelin thrower Kishore Kumar Jena moves up the ladder

Nine years ago, a village lad from district Puri in Odisha having a passion for volleyball traveled all the way to Bhubaneswar to enroll himself in the state-run center of excellence in volleyball.

Young Kishore Kumar Jena was disheartened then as he was rejected on the grounds that he didn’t had a district or state-level certificate, one of the mandatory norms to fulfill the selection criteria.

Incidentally, Jena competed in the 2015 Odisha state-level (U20) athletics meet where he won silver with a throw of 55m.

“He (Jena) was selected in athletics for the state-run hostel in Bhubaneswar,” recalls senior athletics expert Nila Madhab Deo. "He was strong (five feet nine inches tall) and made a mark in javelin throw."

The 2015 year proved to be a turning point in the life of Jena.

“I had a passion for volleyball and played for fun in the village,” Jena told Sportskeeda over the phone. “I wanted to learn more but my name was rejected for the center of excellence in Bhubaneswar as I never had a certificate to prove my credentials as a volleyball player.”

According to Jena in 2015 he went to see a state-level athletics meet with friends and got interested in javelin throw.

“I was excited to win second position with a throw of 55m,” Jena recalls. That was the beginning of his journey into the athletics world.

He practiced for two years under the tutelage of Deo Sir in Bhubaneswar and further improved his performance to 76m. In 2018 he got a job in the CISF (Central Industrial Security Force) through sports quota.

In the recently concluded 62nd National Inter State Senior Athletics Championship held in Bhubaneswar, Jena won a silver medal with a throw of 82.87m behind Uttar Pradesh international thrower Rohit Yadav who won gold with a throw of 83. 28m.

Jena’s silver medal-winning throw was better than the Hangzhou Asian Games qualification mark of 78.23m, but he will have to wait for the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) selection panel nod.

India’s Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra is the defending champion and automatic choice. While Rohit Yadav and Manu DP have also been consistent in their performance. Both Manu and Rohit Yadav will represent India at the next month’s Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok, Thailand.

Jena is attending the national camp at Patiala’s National Institute of Sports (NIS) in Punjab. He claims to have crossed 84m in practice and was hopeful of repeating the same in competition in the near future.

“The domestic competition is very challenging. I’ve to stay focused and further improve my performance to stay ahead of my rivals,” the 27 years old Odisha thrower said.