“Neeraj Chopra Not Someone Who Makes You Feel Junior”: Kishore Jena

Olympic-bound javelin thrower Kishore Jena became a sensation with his heroics at the Asian Games 2023. In the recent times, Neeraj Chopra has single-handedly dominated the sport of javelin throw with his master-class performance. As Neeraj bagged the gold medal at the Asian Games, Jena put up a tough fight and took home the silver medal. This powerful duo is now gearing up for Olympics 2024, which will kick-start from July 26 is Paris. Recently, Jena opened up about his bond with India’s ‘Golden Boy’ Neeraj.

Jena lavished praise on Neeraj and called him a “down to earth” person, who always treats every player equally, irrespective of their position.

“I had a brilliant experience working with Neeraj Chopra. He is such a senior athelete but he always treats us with respect. I have seen many times that there are players who make you feel that you junior to them. However, Neeraj is not like that. He is such a humble and down to earth person. I have learnt a lot from him. He keeps on pushing me ahead during the tournaments. He never makes me feel that he is my competition.,” Jena told NDTV.

Jena, who improved his personal best from 78.05m to 87.54m last year, is beginning his season at the Doha leg of the prestigious Diamond League on May 10.

He will also take part in Golden Spike at Ostrava, Czech Republic, on May 28 — a World Athletics Continental Tour gold level event — and the Paris leg of the Diamond League on July 7.

“We have an off-season in which we look after our fitness and workout routine. Over there, we have to check on where are we lacking and what else needs to be done to improve our game. Talking about my own routine, currently I am looking after a few things about my fitness. Me and team is giving hundred per cent to remove all the issues before the Paris 2024 Olympics. I will be playing in the Diamond League before the Olympics, in order to check if I am making any mistakes and how to rectify them. Without playing any tournament, one cannot know what mistakes he/she is making,” he said.

Jena went to Gold Coast in Australia, where he undertook a 35-day training stint from February 5 to March 10.

“We went to Australia for training as it was severely cold in Patiala at that time. The temperature was around 2-3 degree celsius and the Atheletic Federation of India (AFI) recommended us to go for our training. Our trip turned out to be a success as we had good practice sessions twice a day. Another thing I loved about that place is their discipline. Even the elderly people over there are dedicated towards fitness and they take out some time for workout everyday,” he added.