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Asian Games silver medallist javelin thrower Kishore Jena secured his spot at the Paris Olympics 2024 after an 87.54m throw in Hangzhou, China. Kishore Jena gave stiff competition to his fellow compatriot Neeraj Chopra, who had a throw of 88.88m.
Notably, Kishore Jena will be making his Diamond League debut in Doha on May 10. Diamond League is a series of 15 invitational elite track and field events, having the world’s best athletes, which makes it a prestigious competition.
Jena would take the experience from playing in major international events to the Paris Olympics 2024 and perform well without any pressure. Additionally, he would be aiming to nullify the mistakes ahead of the quadrennial event.
“I am happy that people have expectations from me. I am not taking it as pressure as my full focus is the Paris Olympics. I am looking to participate in these international competitions as the experience will help me do well in the Olympics. I do not want to commit any mistake in Paris. So, whatever mistakes are going to happen in the coming events, let it happen. I will rectify it for sure before the Olympics,” Kishore Jena told Rev Sportz.
“The overall state of athletics in India has improved a lot” - Kishore Jena
Furthermore, Jena underscored the remarkable growth of athletics following Neeraj Chopra’s historic gold medal win in the Tokyo Olympics. Interestingly, it’s the only gold medal in athletics for India throughout Olympic history.
He highlighted a significant disparity in the medal tally for athletics and expressed optimism about the increasing number of aspiring athletes embracing the sport. He also sounded confident of DP Manu’s qualification, suggesting it could remove some of the pressure he faces.
“See, after Neeraj Chopra’s gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics, people have started to expect. The overall state of athletics in India has improved a lot. You can clearly see the difference in the number of medals in the last two Asian Games editions. India is moving in the right direction in sports and we just need to follow it as results are coming,” Jena added.
“In javelin, more kids are coming day by day. Hopefully, DP Manu will also qualify and all three of us will be together, representing India at the Paris Olympics. At the World Championships, we were there together and it also helps in reducing the pressure,” he stated.
Kishore, who finished fifth in the 2023 Budapest World Championships, later conveyed his experience of people coming in and clicking pictures with him. He wanted to take it as a motivation and do well in the upcoming events for India.
