World Athletics Championships 2023: DP Manu, Kishore Kumar Jena join Neeraj Chopra in men's javelin throw final

This is the first time three Indian javelin throwers have qualified for the final at Worlds.

India’s emerging Javelin throwers Manu DP and Kishore Kumar Jena sailed through to the final of World Athletics Championships 2023. Manu DP from Karnataka recorded 81.31m to finish sixth in qualification rounds while Odisha’s Kishore Kumar Jena put in a best effort of 80.55m to finish ninth overall. A total of 12 athletes qualified for the final with Andrian Mardare capturing the final qualifying spot (12th).

Earlier, Neeraj Chopra secured a direct entry by breaching the automatic qualifying mark of 83m by spearing the Javelin to an individual season best throw of 88.77m in his first attempt. The reigning Olympic gold medalist required just one attempt to qualify for the final and with this a record three Indians have made it to the finals for the first time in the World Athletics Championships history.

Manu DP in Group A started with a sub-par throw of 78.31m but in the following throw crossed the 80m mark to record a best attempt of 81.31m. This throw was enough for the 23-year-old to finish in the third spot in Group A and finish ninth combining two groups. Many athletes failed to acclimatize to the hot conditions with temperatures keeping high.

Kishore Kumar Jena, on the other hand, speared the Javelin to 80m plus in the opening throw which confirmed him a spot in the final. The next throw was well below his best and the last throw ended in foul. The 27-year-old has enjoyed reasonable success in the past year; improving his PB by six metres and recently finished at the top spot in Sri Lanka National Athletics Championships.

However, several athletes in Group B had better conditions to play with. Commonwealth Games 2022 gold medallist Arshad Nadeem and Jakub Vadlejch breached the automatic qualification mark and along with Neerj were the only three to cross 83m mark.

Nadeem playing in his first international meet this season started with a 70m throw and in the following throw added 10m to secure a season best throw. The last throw was then speared to 86.79m which saw him finish second behind Neeraj Chopra.

Former Olympic gold medalist Keshorn Walcott failed to start the event while Julius Yego from Kenya put up a below par performance. Reigning World Champion Anderson Peters too failed to qualify registering a best effort just above 78m at World Athletics Championships.

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