World Athletics Championships: Javelin thrower Kishore Jena gets fresh visa appointment at Hungarian embassy

Kishore Kumar Jena’s hopes of representing India in the World Athletics Championships in Budapest received a boost on Thursday after the javelin thrower got a fresh appointment at the Hungarian embassy.

The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) in an update shared on X (formerly twitter) said on Thursday, “Thanks to all. Javelin thrower Kishore Kumar Jena has appointment at Hungary embassy tomorrow at 9am.”

Thanks to all.
Javelin thrower Kishore Kumar Jena has appointment at Hungary embassy tomorrow at 9am.@Media_SAI. @YASMinistry @Neeraj_chopra1 @Adille1 @WorldAthletics

— Athletics Federation of India (@afiindia) August 17, 2023

Jena’s hopes of competing in the premier athletics event were thrown into doubt after his application for a one-month visa to Hungary was cancelled on Wednesday. Star javelin thrower and Olympic gold medallist Neeraj Chopra rallied to his support, seeking the Ministry of External Affairs’ help in the matter.

The Championships begin at the National Athletics Centre in the Hungarian capital on Saturday, 19 August, and will go on till the 27th of this month.

Taking to social media, Chopra urged Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar to “find a solution”.

“Just heard that there are issues with Kishore Jena’s VISA, preventing him from entering Hungary for the World C’ships. I hope the authorities are able to find a solution, as this is one of the biggest moments of his career. Let’s do everything we can,” he posted tagging MEA and Jaishankar.

Jena, who won gold in the Sri Lankan National Championships on 30 July with a personal best of 84.38m, had made the cut through the world ranking quota.

The Odia athlete had qualified for the event after being placed 36th in the Road to Budapest list updated by World Athletics (WA) following the completion of the qualification period on 30 July.

The 27-year-old is one of the four Indian javelin throwers to have qualified for the World Championships. DP Manu and Rohit Yadav had also made the cut but the latter pulled out after undergoing an elbow surgery on his throwing arm.

Jena, who had won silver in the National Inter-State in June, and Manu are the only Indian athletes yet to reach Budapest out of the 28-member squad.

With inputs from PTI

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