Kishore Jena, fondly addressed as 'Jena Babu' whenever he is throwing spears in and around his home state Odisha, built his javelin career under the shadow of Olympic and world champion Neeraj Chopra -- until his beaming image standing beside his idol, Neeraj, on the Hangzhou Asian Games podium introduced him to the world.
The Asiad silver is Jena's claim-to-fame story, but not many are aware of the little backstory to it from Hungary, a month before Jena finished behind Neeraj in Hangzhou, which booked him his maiden ticket to the Olympics.
It was the World Championships in Budapest. Jena was making his debut at the elite tournament, and finished a commendable fifth while watching Neeraj become a world champion.
Jena's then personal best of 84.77 fell an agonizing 43 cm behind the automatic Olympic qualification mark of 85.20. He returned to the hotel room a little despondent, even though a top-five finish in the final that had the likes of Neeraj, Arshad Nadeem, Jakub Vadlejch, Julian Weber and other top world throwers was no mean feat.
That's when Neeraj called Jena to his room and inspired him in his own unique way.
"The biggest thing about him, apart from his performance and achievements, is that you can ask him whatever, and he will reply like he is just one of us, a normal athlete. He never thinks like he is a big player," Jena told Timesofidia.com during an interview, as he narrated Neeraj's gesture that touched his heart.
"The day our competition at the World Championships finished, I went back to our room around midnight. Our flight was early the next morning; we had to leave by 4 - 4:30 am," said Jena.
Neeraj was, perhaps, aware of Jena's state of mind at that point.
"Neeraj bhai called me to his room," Jena continued. "He had qualified for the Paris Olympics during the World Championships with a gold medal. So he received a small piece of memorabilia, which had 'Go for Paris' written on it."
"He gifted that to me and said, 'Jena, keep this and work hard. I'll see you at the Asian Games next. Do well there'."
Neeraj's words turned prophetic.
Jena not only improved his personal best at the Asian Games with a throw of 87.54, but also won a silver medal to share the podium with Neeraj who successfully defended his 2018 gold with his season best 88.88m.
The other big result of that performance was that it ensured Jena will be on the flight to Paris.
"I still have it with me," Jena said about the little gift from Neeraj that inspired him.
"Ek crore mei ek aadmi aisa hota hai (there is only one person like Neeraj among a crore)."
