Bhubaneswar, Aug 19: Indian javelin thrower Kishore Jena has successfully received his visa to travel to Hungary, ensuring his participation in the upcoming World Athletics Championships scheduled to take place in Budapest from August 19-27.
A reliable source from the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) confirmed the positive development, sharing that Jena's visa was approved following his interview on Friday morning. He is expected to receive his travel documents later in the day.
Earlier, on Wednesday, Jena had faced a setback when his visa application was unexpectedly cancelled by the Hungarian embassy in India. This prompted Olympic gold medalist in javelin throw, Neeraj Chopra, to publicly show his support for Jena. Chopra reached out to Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar, urging him to intervene and resolve the issue.
Chopra expressed his concern on social media, stating, "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 on X (formerly Twitter), tagging MEA and Jaishankar.
Jena 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 July 30.
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 elbow surgery on his throwing arm.
