Kishore Jena wins gold medal in men's javelin throw event at Sri Lanka Athletics Championships

On the opening day of the Sri Lanka Athletics Championships 2023, which began on July 28, at the Sugathadasa Stadium in Colombo, Kishore Jena entered the history books by winning the gold medal in the men's javelin throw event with a personal best mark of 84.38m.

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This is the second consecutive gold medal for Kishore. Earlier he won a gold medal at Lebanon National Championships, last week, with a throw of 78.96m. Kishore Jena bettered his previous personal best of 82.87m which he created last month at the National Inter-State Athletics Championships in Bhubaneshwar. He has been on a constant rise in the year 2023. Jena threw thrice over 80m and registered four personal bests since the start of the year.

In March 2023, Kishore Jena threw 78.93m in Indian Throws Competition, Bellary to register his personal best. He breached the 80m mark for the first time at Indian Grand Prix 1 in Trivandrum with a throw of 81.05m. Kishore recorded another personal best in June 2023. He threw 82.87m at the National Inter-State Athletics Championships to win silver behind DP Manu.

With his latest throw, Kishore is now ranked fourth overall among the Indian throwers in terms of best throws registered. He has crossed his compatriot DP Manu who has the best throw of 84.35m. This throw means Kishore Jena has given himself a chance for a spot in the upcoming World Championships in Budapest.

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Kishore Jena is four places out from the Top 36 at the moment in Road To Budapest rankings. With a personal best now, Kishore has a high chance of moving back to the Top 36 with 30th July being the deadline for qualification. If Kishore qualifies, India will have four javelin throwers at the World Championships- Neeraj Chopra, DP Manu, Rohit Yadav, and Kishore. While Kishore won the gold, veteran thrower Shivpal Singh won a silver medal with a throw of 77.36m. His chances for the World Championships look bleak given he is way below the rankings of Top 36.