But 12 months is a lifetime in international sport and Jena understands it all too well. From an unfancied competitor at the start of the year to becoming India's No.2 javelin thrower, behind world and Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra, the Odisha thrower has enjoyed a meteoric rise in currently the most popular athletics discipline in the country.
"It does feel like a dream. Earlier, people barely took note of me, but now there are requests for photographs and autographs. It all feels a little surreal. Credit to my coach and well wishers," the 28-year-old says.
"Honestly, if you would have told me at the start of the year that I will have such results in the coming months, I wouldn't have believed. Having said that, in javelin an improvement of 3-4 metres is not unnatural. So, once I started doing well, I knew I could get in the 85-87m range."
Having started the year with a best throw of 78.93m that helped him win the season-opening Indian Open Throws Competition, it turned into a largely subdued season for Jena as he managed to breach the 80m mark just once in his next four competitions.
This story is from the December 11, 2023 edition of Hindustan Times.
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This story is from the December 11, 2023 edition of Hindustan Times.
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