"I’m mentally prepared to perform in front of global spectators" - Kishore Kumar Jena confident of performing at World Championships

Odisha’s javelin thrower Kishore Kumar Jena was thankful for an opportunity to compete at the Sri Lankan National Athletics Championship held in Colombo in the last week of July.

The 27-year-old Indian thrower performed at his optimum level, and won gold with a throw of 84.38m. He earned a berth for the upcoming Budapest World Athletics Championships through global ranking system.

Jena will be the third Indian male javelin thrower to compete at the World Athletics starting August 19 in Hungary. India’s Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra and DP Manu are other two athletes to have qualified.

India's representation in the men’s javelin could have been four, but an injury to Rohit Yadav forced him to pull out of the World Championships. Jena was elated to have crossed the 84m mark this season.

“I’m happy to have recorded a season best throw in Colombo. It improved my global ranking points and subsequently paved the way to win a world championships berth through the ranking system,” the Odisha’s thrower told Sportskeeda.

The entry standard for men’s javelin was 85.20m, while athletes within the top 36 ranking system were also eligible to compete at the world championships.

Jena was lucky to have grabbed the 36th spot before the July 30 entry deadline after his outstanding throw in Sri Lanka.

Earlier, in June during the national domestic meet in Bhubaneswar, he qualified for the Hangzhou Asian Games with a throw of 82.87m and won a silver medal. The throw was better than the qualification criteria 78.23m.

Currently training at National Institute of Sports (NIS) in Patiala, the Odisha thrower said he was ready for the big tournament in Hungary.

“I’m mentally prepared to perform in front of global spectators. The goal is to further improve my performance on my international debut,” Jena added.