Athlete Kishore Jena has finally secured a Hungarian Embassy, which allowed him to participate in the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary beginning August 19. Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Neeraj Chopra had taken to microblogging site X to request authorities, including External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to help resolve the issue of Kishore Jena’s visa and help the athlete participate in the Budapest World Athletics Championships.
Jena has finally obtained his visa from the Hungarian embassy. The top athletics event will be held in Hungary from August 19 to 27. Jena a promising javelin thrower is currently ranked world No.33. His personal best throw was 84.38 metres on July 28 in Sri Lanka at the 101st Sri Lankan Championships, which helped him clinch the gold medal. India has named a 28-member strong contingent for the World Athletics Championships, led by Olympic gold medalist Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, who ended the country’s long wait of 19 years for a medal at the championships with a silver in men’s javelin event. Long jumper Murali Sreeshankar, hurdler Jyothi Yarraji and steeplechaser Avinash Sable will also be in action at the championships. Shot-putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor had to withdraw due to a groin injury sustained at the Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok last month. He threw 20.23 m to secure a gold but ended up injuring himself. This will be the second successive World Championships Tajinder will miss due to injury, having previously withdrawn from the 2022 Championships in Eugene due to a groin injury. Tejaswin Shankar will also miss the event and focus on Asian Games 2023, which will be held from Hangzhou, China from September 23 to October 8.