'I was little overconfident': Kishore Jena reflects on Diamond League debut

Bhubaneswar: Asian Games medalist Kishore Kumar Jena cited 'overconfidence' as the reason behind his subdued performance on the much-awaited Diamond League debut in Doha last week.

The Javelin Thrower from Odisha is currently in Bhubaneswar to participate in the ongoing Federation Cup Athletics where he will be playing his final tomorrow.

"As we know Javelin is a technical event, and there were some issues with my run-up. The warmup was good but I guess I was a little overconfident. I have to work it down now," Kishore said in the pre-event press conference on Tuesday at Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar.

Kishore made his Diamond League debut at the Doha meeting last week and finished ninth with the best throw of 76.31m.

However, one of the coaches cited that his debut at such a big event played some role in the performance.

Kishore had three attempts with the spear but failed to reach close to 80m as his compatriot Neeraj Chopra finished second with the best throw of 86.36m.

Olympic-bound Kishore Kumar Jena features in the star-studded Javelin Throw final of Federation Cup Athletics along with Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra, Tokyo Olympian Shivpal Singh, and Asian Athletics medalist DP Manu.

Kishore qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics with a big throw of 87.54m at the 2023 Asian Games and also won the silver medal ensuring a top two finish for India.