After a surgery, Kishore Jena on comeback trail at Fed Cup Athletics

In early October last year, Kishore Jena felt he had erred going under the knife. A painful bone growth at the left ankle required surgery, but post-operation, as expected, he found it extremely difficult to walk. A silver medall at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, leading Neeraj Chopra at one point with an 87-plus metre throw, Jena’s mind was wracked with doubt.“The first few days after surgery (in Mumbai) I felt like I had made a make. I couldn’t walk properly, I had to just sit down. I thought, ‘how will I ever throw again?’ But the physio and coach supported me, and the recovery began. Now, I am feeling better,” Jena recalled.
One comforting message was from Chopra. “When you are down, not many people stand you,” Jena said when asked about those who kept in touch. “Neeraj bhai messaged saying ‘everything will be fine’ after I had posted about the surgery.”
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Six months after the ankle surgery, Jena made a return at the Indian Open in Chennai earlier this week. A modest dance of 75.99 metres paled in comparison to his personal best of 87.54m at the Hangzhou Asiad. Being able to run from a full approach was a measure of progress. Next up for Jena is the Federation Cup Senior Athletics Championship in Kochi starting Monday. He’s got a Doha stopover for next month’s Diamond League.
Jena’s fortunes are linked to the country’s might in javelin. He’s the second-best Indian after Chopra in terms of dance and was one of the three Indians to reach the final of the 2023 World Championships. But from the high of the silver at the 2023 Asian Games, Jena, carrying an injury at the Olympics, didn’t qualify for the final last year.
“The Indian Open was my first competition after the Olympics. It was important to participate to remove the fear of injury. If I think that I will throw the javelin only when I have zero pain, that will never happen,” Jena said.
The left-ankle injury affected Jena’s blocking leg. A good block helps transfer energy into the javelin and generate power.Story continues below this ad
Jena first felt pain in his left ankle during pre-season training in April last year. He was at Patiala. He brushed it off as a strain. “When you throw the javelin there will be discomfort in the ankle. I didn’t think it was major,” Jena said. An MRI gave the true picture.
However, Jena didn’t want to be on the sidelines with the Olympics just months away. So he took the big call to throw despite the pain. “It was my blocking leg, so it was difficult. I could only lift (weights) and cycle. Running and jumping (during training) was hardly possible,” the 29-year-old athlete said.
Steve Lemke, the throws coach at the Reliance Foundation, is a key person Jena sought advice from before opting for surgery. The Lemke-Jena partnership began after the Paris Olympics.
“He’s got to be mentally confident that his left leg can handle all that pressure. So we have had to build his confidence, beside his health. There’s still room to improve with the strength of the ankle. But definitely he’s getting very close now,” Lemke said.

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Coach’s odyssey
The coach, like Jena, is also making a comeback.
Lemke, a university coach in the USA for over three decades, was also part of the Olympic coaching set-up in Australia and Norway. On turning 60, he hung up his coaching boots. Six months down the line, he suffered a heart attack. But instead of slowing down, he returned to coaching.
“While I was retired, I had a heart attack. I realised I wanted to get back to work. I needed to stay busy, and I really missed the coaching,” Lemke said. After a one-year stint at Virginia University, he and his wife Greder, a laboratory supervisor, turned their attention towards India and its javelin boom.
“My wife had travelled to India a few times before and spoke very highly of it. We thought it would be a great place to be. So I actually reached out to James Hillier (director of athletics programme, Reliance Foundation). All our children are grown up, so we don’t have to worry about bringing them to a foreign country.”Story continues below this ad
With Jena on the rehabilitation route, Lemke became a father figure rather than a taskmaster. There were pep talks with Jena. “He had to start all over again. But with the knowledge that he had been at a very high level. Sometimes, it’s hard to get an athlete to believe because they’ve never been at a high level. But he’s coming from a point where 18 months ago, he did throw 87 metres and he knows ‘I can do it again’,” Lemke said.
Lemke is ‘excited’ because Jena is inching closer to full fitness. Jena, Lemke believes, can return to his best form over the next few months.
‘Very Strong, Athletic’
“He’s not a big guy. But for his body weight, he is very strong. He’s got good flexibility, he’s got fast-twitch muscle fibre. He’s very athletic. We can go back to using all of his athletic abilities in the throw,” Lemke said.
He’s thrilled to be coaching Indian javelin throwers, the other two being Sahil Siwal and Vikrant Malik. “I don’t know if everybody realises that last year India had more 80-metre javelin throwers than any other country. India is going to keep getting better internationally because there’s so much internal competition within the country.”Story continues below this ad
If Jena hits the high 80-metre zone again, the competition will be looking over their shoulders.