New Delhi, Aug 28 (PTI) One is a late bloomer who switched to javelin from volleyball due to his “short” stature and the other was a fast-bowler before his initiation into throwing “bamboo spears” by his school teacher.

Having eventually established themselves as India’s top javelin throwers, Kishore Jena and DP Manu now have one thing in common: to emulate Olympic and world champion Neeraj Chopra.

Jena and Manu created Indian athletics history along with Chopra as the three participants, in a first, finished in the top six in the World Championships.

Jena (84.77m) finished fifth, while Mani (84.14m) ended sixth in Sunday’s men’s javelin final in Budapest, which Chopra won.

Born to a paddy farmer’s family at Kothasahi village at Brahmagiri area of Puri district in Odisha, Jena, 27, was initially a volleyball player but he had to leave it because of his short height of 5 feet 8 inches. He needed a certificate to get admission to a sports hostel in Bhubaneswar.

When he did not get that certificate, he shifted to javelin.

In 2015, he moved to a sports hostel in Bhubaneswar and began training under a local coach. He was around 20, which is quite late to begin training under a professional coach in any sport. Later, he shifted base to Bhopal and took part in a national competition in 2017.

Jena joined Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) in 2016 and competed in All India police meets also. But till 2020, he was struggling, failing to throw 70m consistently.

But joining the national camp in Patiala changed everything as he came under Samarjeet Singh Malhi.

“He was in Bhopal and then joined national camp in Patiala in 2021. He was not beng able to throw 75m regularly. But I changed his technique and with hard work and dedication, he improved a lot and now he is nearing 85m,” Malhi told

Source: PTI News