New Delhi: Elite sports can be brutal. The sporting high, attained after years of toil, can be at once fulfilling and fleeting. The craft that hitherto appeared intrinsic can vanish without a trace, leaving the practitioner flummoxed.

Kishore Jena, over the course of 18 months, has ridden this emotional rollercoaster, oscillating wildly between the Hangzhou peak of 2023 to the Paris pit of 2024. From being country’s second best javelin thrower after Neeraj Chopra to struggling to hit the 80m mark, Jena’s slump has been as stunning as his rise.

As he watched Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem and Chopra battle it out on that memorable night in the French capital, a dejected Jena could only brood over the proverbial what-ifs. “I was in stands that night, and it was surreal to see Nadeem and Neeraj challenge each other. It’s the stage every athlete dreams of. I know I could have been there. It was tough to process, to be honest,” Jena recalls.

Sport, however, is immune to could-haves and would-haves. Jena’s implosion at the grand stage was not sudden. After a memorable 2023 that saw him win the Asian Games silver with a personal best effort of 87.54m, the 29-year-old produced a series of underwhelming results, thanks to a persistent niggle on his left ankle.

“It started as a little discomfort and as the season wore on, it began to worsen. By the time the Olympics arrived, I was virtually throwing from my upper body power alone,” he says.

What compounded Jena’s misery was the fact that the ankle issue was on his blocking leg. The ‘block’ is considered one of the most important components of javelin technique for it is at this stage that the energy flows from ground-up to the throwing arm.

Soon after returning from Paris, Jena rushed to his home in Odisha for a ten-day break before packing his bags for Mumbai. He had decided to move on from the tutelage of Samarjeet Singh Malhi in NIS Patiala and head to Reliance Foundation’s Jio Institute in Navi Mumbai to train under American coach Steve Lemke.

“It’s not as if I had done something great in Paris, so staying at home didn’t feel all that good. There was nothing particularly amiss in Patiala but I decided to try something new under a new coach. There is enough time for the next Olympics so this is the right time to reassess my training,” he says.

A day after he reported in Navi Mumbai, Jena got his MRI scans done which revealed a bone overgrowth and fractures in his left ankle.

“I remember I landed in Mumbai on September 25. I went for the scans the next day which showed three fractures and a bone overgrowth in my left ankle. I went under the knife on October 4.”

Undergoing surgery is never an easy decision for athletes. There is always the fear of the procedure going wrong and the uncertainity over being able to return to full fitness. Wrestler Ravi Dahiya delayed his knee surgery to the extent that he ended up missing the Paris Olympics while Jena’s compatriot Chopra is still dithering over his groin.

“Surgery is not an easy option but it is important to look for permanent solutions,” says Jena.

“I started feeling the discomfort in my second throwing session in Patiala, soon after returning from a training stint in Gold Coast. I ignored it initially but the pain kept increasing. By the time Paris Olympics arrived, I had trouble running. Even walking had become a chore. I couldn’t train my leg either. So, I was determined to address the issue once for all.”

Jena is currently undergoing rehabilitation and has started throwing 800gm medicine balls only this week. “He started wearing his training spikes only this week,” says Lemke.

“If everything stays on track, he will start throwing the javelin next month. We plan to take it slow and steady,” Lemke, who also trains javelin throwers Sahil Silwal and Vikrant Malik, adds. Jena’s two main targets next year will be the Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi, South Korea and the World Championships in Japan.

“Rebuilding is not easy but I know what I am capable of. Doing well at the Worlds is my biggest goal for the next season. As for the learnings, all I can say is it is imperative to stay injury-free. One injury and you never know where your career can go,” Jena says.

“He is a very strong athlete, mentally and physically. When fully fit, he can be a consistent 85m+ thrower which will put him in medal contention in most meets. He’ll be there, slowly but surely,” Lemke signed off.