Joe Choong Explained

Joe Choong
MBE
Nationality:British
Birth Date:23 May 1995
Birth Place:Orpington, England
Height:186 cm[1]
Weight:78 kg
Country:Great Britain
Sport:Modern pentathlon
Coach:Marian Gheorge[2]
Show-Medals:yes

Joseph Choong (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.[3]

Early life

Choong was born in Orpington, South East London to a Malaysian Chinese father Michael Choong and 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.

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. 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]

2024

Choong finished ninth at the Paris Olympics.[27] [28] [29]

Notes and References

  1. https://www.rio2016.com/en/athlete/joseph-choong Joseph Choong
  2. http://results.nbcolympics.com/athletes/athlete=choong-joseph-1208278/index.html Joseph Choong
  3. News: Hope . Nick . Joe Choong: Olympic spot for Briton with Euros seventh place . 1 May 2016 . BBC Sport . 22 August 2015.
  4. News: The Choongs of Seremban, a golden link to UK Olympic glory . Frankie . D'Cruz . 10 August 2021 . Free Malaysia Today.
  5. Web site: UK's golden boy and his Malaysian connection . The Vibes . 8 August 2021.
  6. Web site: Double Olympian Nick Woodbridge returns for European Championships . https://web.archive.org/web/20150127013433/http://www.pentathlon.org/double-olympian-nick-woodbridge-returns-for-european-championships/ . dead . 27 January 2015 . Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne . 1 May 2016.
  7. News: Joseph Choong becomes first Brit to win the European U16 Modern Pentathlon . 1 May 2016 . Croydon Advertiser . 24 September 2010.
  8. Web site: Tokyo 2020: Joe Choong makes Olympic history as University of Bath graduate completes glorious GB golden double in modern pentathlon . 7 August 2021 . Team Bath.
  9. Web site: Joe Choong . 18 April 2011 . University of Bath . 1 May 2016.
  10. Web site: Whitgift Sixth Former selected for Modern Pentathlon Youth Olympic Games. style . Whitgift School . 1 May 2016 . 23 July 2014.
  11. News: Ballinger . Steve . Samantha Murray and Joe Choong retain GB Open Modern Pentathlon Championships titles . 1 May 2016 . Bath Chronicle . 30 June 2014.
  12. News: Hope . Nick . Modern pentathlon: 'Sky the limit' for Joe Choong . 1 May 2016 . BBC Sport . 6 September 2014.
  13. News: Ashton . Tim . Athletics: Former Whitgift School pupil is Rio bound . 1 May 2016 . Sutton Guardian . 24 August 2015.
  14. Web site: Joe Choong and Freyja Prentice are highest Pentathlon GB finishers during challenging Rio 2016 test event . University of Bath . 1 May 2016 . 14 March 2016.
  15. Web site: Career-best finish for student Joe Choong at Modern Pentathlon World Cup in Rome . University of Bath . 1 May 2016 . 4 April 2016.
  16. News: British pentathlete Joe Choong aims to 'break the curse' for glory at Tokyo . 31 July 2019 . Jersey Evening Post.
  17. News: Britain's Joe Choong wins bronze at European Modern Pentathlon Championships . 22 July 2018 . BBC Sport.
  18. News: Spectacular sprint finish gives Britain's Jamie Cooke modern pentathlon world title after rival celebrates prematurely . 14 September 2018 . The Telegraph . Ben . Bloom.
  19. News: Modern Pentathlon: Joe Choong & GB's mixed relay team win World Cup silvers in Sofia . Nick . Hope . BBC Sport . 14 April 2019.
  20. News: Pentathlon GB end up with huge medal haul at European Championships in Bath . 12 August 2019 . Somerset Live . Daniel . Evans.
  21. News: Modern Pentathlon World Championships: Britain's Joe Choong wins silver . 7 September 2019 . BBC Sport.
  22. News: Modern Pentathlon: GB's Joe Choong wins World Cup gold . 18 April 2021 . BBC Sports.
  23. News: Tokyo Olympics: Team GB's Joe Choong wins Britain's first-ever gold in men's modern pentathlon . 7 August 2021 . Sky News.
  24. News: Tokyo Olympics: Joseph Choong wins gold for Team GB in men's modern pentathlon . https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220609/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/joseph-choong-pentathlon-tokyo-2020-b1898729.html . 9 June 2022 . subscription . live . Alex . Pattle . The Independent . 7 August 2021.
  25. News: Tokyo Olympics: Joe Choong helps Great Britain to historic double — and fulfils a 20-year dream . Rebecca . Myers . 8 August 2021 . The Times.
  26. Web site: New Year Honours 2022: Jason Kenny receives a knighthood and Laura Kenny made a dame . 31 December 2021 . BBC Sport.
  27. Web site: Joe Choong left with long list of grievances after modern pentathlon struggle. The Guardian. 10 August 2024.
  28. Web site: 'I felt a lot of pressure' - Choong. BBC Sport. 10 August 2024.
  29. Web site: Ahmed Elgendy wins modern pentathlon after Joe Choong left himself too much to do. The Telegraph. 10 August 2024.

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