HANGZHOU: Half a dozen years ago, when Kishore Jena was still figuring out the ins and outs of javelin, he had suffered an accident when the tail end of the spear hit his head. Those days are long gone. On Wednesday, in perfect track and field conditions at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium, Jena pushed the reigning king of the discipline -- Neeraj Chopra -- all the way.
In an event marred by dodgy judging, the Puri athlete prevented the competition from becoming a procession. While the 25-year-old Chopra, who had only recently lent his spikes to the compatriot at the World Championships, predictably took the early lead with a below-average throw of 84.49m, Jena was the one who lit the blue touch paper in the final.
His third throw of 86.77m not only relegated Chopra to second but it also helped the former to book his Paris ticket. A marker was laid down. Was Chopra going to respond on a night when officials had caused him lots of grief? A season’s best of 88.88m followed. Jena responded with another personal best but it wasn’t enough for the 28-year-old who had finished fifth at the Worlds in Budapest.
“There is no competition with Neeraj, he’s my idol,” he said after the event. “We all get inspired by him and continue to do so. It feels good to share the podium with him.”As India accumulated 12 medals on Wednesday, the overall medal count has breached the Jakarata Games mark of 70 and reached 81, well on course for #isbaar100paar.