Neeraj Chopra Reaches Out To External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar For THIS Help

Jena, is currently placed at No.33 in the world rankings, and is one of the emerging javelin throwers in the country.

Neeraj Chopra and S Jaishankar (Source: Twitter/ANI)

Indian Olympic gold medalist javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra on Thursday urged Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar to resolve the visa issues of athlete Kishore Jena to enable him to take part in the World Athletics Championships, which will be held in Budapest, Hungary this year.  The top athletics event will be held in Hungary from August 19 to 27. "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. @MEAIndia @DrSJaishankar," tweeted Neeraj.

Jena is a promising javelin thrower, who is currently placed at No.33 in the world rankings. His personal best throw is 84.38 m on July 28, 2023, in Sri Lanka at the 101st Sri Lankan Championships, which helped him clinch the gold medal. 

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. _@MEAIndia @DrSJaishankar

— Neeraj Chopra (@Neeraj_chopra1) August 17, 2023

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 This will be the second successive World Championships Tajinder will miss due to injury, having previously withdrawn from the 2022 Championships in Eugene due to a groin injury.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 will however focus on Asian Games 2023, which will be held from Hangzhou, China from September 23 to October 8.  Asian shot-put champion Tajinderpal Singh Toor and Commonwealth Games medalist high jumper Tejaswin Shankar will skip the upcoming World Athletics Championships.