Joe Choong
MBE
Choong at the 2016 Olympics
Personal information
NationalityBritish
Born (1995-05-23) 23 May 1995
Orpington, England
Height186 cm (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Weight78 kg (172 lb)
Sport
CountryGreat Britain
SportModern pentathlon
Coached byMarian Gheorge[2]
Medal record
Men's modern pentathlon
Representing  Great Britain
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2020 Tokyo Individual
World Championships
Gold medal – first place2022 AlexandriaIndividual
Gold medal – first place2023 BathIndividual
Silver medal – second place2018 Mexico CityTeam
Silver medal – second place2019 BudapestIndividual
Silver medal – second place2022 AlexandriaMixed
Silver medal – second place2023 BathTeam
Bronze medal – third place2019 BudapestTeam
European Games
Gold medal – first place2023 Kraków-MałopolskaTeam
Silver medal – second place2023 Kraków-MałopolskaIndividual
European Championships
Gold medal – first place2019 BathTeam
Gold medal – first place2023 KrakówTeam
Silver medal – second place2023 KrakówIndividual
Bronze medal – third place2018 SzékesfehérvárIndividual

Joseph Choong MBE (born 23 May 1995) is a British modern pentathlete. He won the gold medal in the event at the 2020 Summer Olympics and the World title in 2022 and 2023.[1][3]

Early life

Choong was born in Orpington, South East London to a Malaysian Chinese father Michael Choong and a British mother Beverley, both doctors.[4][5] He was privately educated at the independent New Beacon and Whitgift School.[6][7] He studied at the University of Bath, where he graduated with a degree in mathematics.[8] He also trains at the Pentathlon GB High Performance Centre located at the university.[9] His younger brother Henry is also a modern pentathlete and competed for Great Britain at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics.[10]

Modern pentathlon

2010-2015

In 2010, Choong became the first British athlete to win the European under-16 modern pentathlon title. He was also part of the British team that won a bronze medal in the relay event.[7]

Choong won the GB Open title and the British Junior Championships in 2013. In 2014 he successfully defended both titles with a score of 1,484 points to finish ahead of Team Bath teammates Joe Evans and Tom Toolis, who scored 1,468 points and 1,446 points respectively. Choong, Evans and Toolis combined to win the team gold medal.[11]

At the 2014 World Modern Pentathlon Championships held in Warsaw, Poland he finished 16th.[12] He qualified for the modern pentathlon at the 2016 Summer Olympics by finishing seventh at the 2015 European Championships held in Bath.[3] Choong was placed fourth after the first three events but dropped out of the top eight during the first laps of the combined run and shooting event before moving back up during the final lap.[13]

2016

In March 2016 at the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM) world cup event in Rio, which served as a test event for the Olympics, Choong was the highest placed British athlete, finishing thirteenth.[14] In April 2016 Choong achieved a career best finish in a world cup event as he finished fourth in Rome, five seconds behind the Czech Republic's Jan Kuf who took the bronze medal.[15]

Choong made his debut at the Olympics in Rio in 2016. He went into the final event, the laser run, in second place, but a poor event resulted in a 10th-place finish.[16]

2018–2019

At the 2018 European Modern Pentathlon Championships, Choong won his first major individual medal after finishing third.[17] At the 2018 World Modern Pentathlon Championships held in Mexico City, he won a team silver together with and Jamie Cooke and Myles Pillage.[18]

In 2019, Choong won a silver in the individual event at the Modern Pentathlon World Cup held in Sofia, Bulgaria.[19] He also won a team gold at the European Championships with Cooke and Tom Toolis.[20] The following month at the 2019 World Modern Pentathlon Championships held in Hungary, Choong again won silver in the individual event.[21]

2021

In April 2021, Choong won an individual gold at the World Cup held in Sofia.[22]

In August 2021 at the postponed 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Choong took gold in the modern pentathlon event, which is the first ever gold for a British man in modern pentathlon.[23] It followed a win by Kate French in the women's competition at the same Olympics to complete a historic double at the Olympics for Britain, the first time a nation has won both.[24][25]

Choong was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to modern pentathlon.[26][27]

References

  1. 1 2 Joseph Choong Archived 26 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine. rio2016.com
  2. ↑ Joseph Choong Archived 19 September 2016 at the Wayback Machine. nbcolympics.com
  3. 1 2 Hope, Nick (22 August 2015). "Joe Choong: Olympic spot for Briton with Euros seventh place". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  4. ↑ D'Cruz, Frankie (10 August 2021). "The Choongs of Seremban, a golden link to UK Olympic glory". Free Malaysia Today.
  5. ↑ "UK's golden boy and his Malaysian connection". The Vibes. 8 August 2021.
  6. ↑ "Double Olympian Nick Woodbridge returns for European Championships". Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne. Archived from the original on 27 January 2015. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  7. 1 2 "Joseph Choong becomes first Brit to win the European U16 Modern Pentathlon". Croydon Advertiser. 24 September 2010. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  8. ↑ "Tokyo 2020: Joe Choong makes Olympic history as University of Bath graduate completes glorious GB golden double in modern pentathlon". Team Bath. 7 August 2021.
  9. ↑ "Joe Choong". University of Bath. 18 April 2011. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  10. ↑ "Whitgift Sixth Former selected for Modern Pentathlon Youth Olympic Games. style". Whitgift School. 23 July 2014. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  11. ↑ Ballinger, Steve (30 June 2014). "Samantha Murray and Joe Choong retain GB Open Modern Pentathlon Championships titles". Bath Chronicle. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  12. ↑ Hope, Nick (6 September 2014). "Modern pentathlon: 'Sky the limit' for Joe Choong". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  13. ↑ Ashton, Tim (24 August 2015). "Athletics: Former Whitgift School pupil is Rio bound". Sutton Guardian. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  14. ↑ "Joe Choong and Freyja Prentice are highest Pentathlon GB finishers during challenging Rio 2016 test event". University of Bath. 14 March 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  15. ↑ "Career-best finish for student Joe Choong at Modern Pentathlon World Cup in Rome". University of Bath. 4 April 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  16. ↑ "British pentathlete Joe Choong aims to 'break the curse' for glory at Tokyo". Jersey Evening Post. 31 July 2019.
  17. ↑ "Britain's Joe Choong wins bronze at European Modern Pentathlon Championships". BBC Sport. 22 July 2018.
  18. ↑ Bloom, Ben (14 September 2018). "Spectacular sprint finish gives Britain's Jamie Cooke modern pentathlon world title after rival celebrates prematurely". The Telegraph.
  19. ↑ Hope, Nick (14 April 2019). "Modern Pentathlon: Joe Choong & GB's mixed relay team win World Cup silvers in Sofia". BBC Sport.
  20. ↑ Evans, Daniel (12 August 2019). "Pentathlon GB end up with huge medal haul at European Championships in Bath". Somerset Live.
  21. ↑ "Modern Pentathlon World Championships: Britain's Joe Choong wins silver". BBC Sport. 7 September 2019.
  22. ↑ "Modern Pentathlon: GB's Joe Choong wins World Cup gold". BBC Sports. 18 April 2021.
  23. ↑ "Tokyo Olympics: Team GB's Joe Choong wins Britain's first-ever gold in men's modern pentathlon". Sky News. 7 August 2021.
  24. ↑ Pattle, Alex (7 August 2021). "Tokyo Olympics: Joseph Choong wins gold for Team GB in men's modern pentathlon". The Independent. Archived from the original on 9 June 2022.
  25. ↑ Myers, Rebecca (8 August 2021). "Tokyo Olympics: Joe Choong helps Great Britain to historic double — and fulfils a 20-year dream". The Times.
  26. ↑ "No. 63571". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 2022. p. N17.
  27. ↑ "New Year Honours 2022: Jason Kenny receives a knighthood and Laura Kenny made a dame". BBC Sport. 31 December 2021.
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