Joe Choong

{{Infobox sportsperson

| name = Joe Choong
MBE

| image = Joe Choong and Nathan Schrimsher Rio2016.jpg

| image_size =

| caption = Choong at the 2016 Summer Olympics

| birth_name =

| fullname =

| nationality = British

| residence =

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1995|5|23|df=y}}

| birth_place = Orpington, England

| death_date =

| death_place =

| height = 186 cm[https://www.rio2016.com/en/athlete/joseph-choong Joseph Choong] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826094804/https://www.rio2016.com/en/athlete/joseph-choong |date=26 August 2016 }}. rio2016.com

| weight = 78 kg

| country = Great Britain

| sport = Modern pentathlon

| event =

| pb =

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| coach = Marian Gheorge[http://results.nbcolympics.com/athletes/athlete=choong-joseph-1208278/index.html Joseph Choong] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160919154640/http://results.nbcolympics.com/athletes/athlete=choong-joseph-1208278/index.html |date=19 September 2016 }}. nbcolympics.com

| alma_mater =

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| show-medals = yes

| medaltemplates = {{MedalSport|Men's modern pentathlon}}

{{MedalCountry|{{GBR2}}}}

}}

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.{{cite news |last1=Hope |first1=Nick |title=Joe Choong: Olympic spot for Briton with Euros seventh place |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/modern-pentathlon/34030830 |accessdate=1 May 2016 |work=BBC Sport |date=22 August 2015}}

Early life

Choong was born in Orpington, South East London to a Malaysian Chinese father Michael Choong and British mother Beverley, both doctors.{{cite news |url=https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/leisure/2021/08/10/the-choongs-of-seremban-a-golden-link-to-uk-olympic-glory/ |title=The Choongs of Seremban, a golden link to UK Olympic glory |first=Frankie |last=D'Cruz |date=10 August 2021 |work=Free Malaysia Today}}{{cite web |url=https://www.thevibes.com/articles/sports/37523/uks-golden-boy-and-his-malaysian-connection |title=UK's golden boy and his Malaysian connection |work=The Vibes |date=8 August 2021}} He was privately educated at the independent New Beacon and Whitgift School.{{cite web |title=Double Olympian Nick Woodbridge returns for European Championships |url=http://www.pentathlon.org/double-olympian-nick-woodbridge-returns-for-european-championships/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150127013433/http://www.pentathlon.org/double-olympian-nick-woodbridge-returns-for-european-championships/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=27 January 2015 |publisher=Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne |accessdate=1 May 2016}}{{cite news |title=Joseph Choong becomes first Brit to win the European U16 Modern Pentathlon |url=http://www.croydonadvertiser.co.uk/Choong-pens-history-books/story-11368019-detail/story.html |accessdate=1 May 2016 |work=Croydon Advertiser |date=24 September 2010}}{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} He studied at the University of Bath, where he graduated with a degree in mathematics.{{cite web |url=https://www.teambath.com/2021/08/07/joe-choong-tokyo-olympics-modern-pentathlon/ |title=Tokyo 2020: Joe Choong makes Olympic history as University of Bath graduate completes glorious GB golden double in modern pentathlon |date=7 August 2021 |work=Team Bath}} He also trains at the Pentathlon GB High Performance Centre located at the university.{{cite web |title=Joe Choong |date=18 April 2011 |url=http://www.teambath.com/2011/04/18/joe-choong/ |publisher=University of Bath |accessdate=1 May 2016 |archive-date=7 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160407025817/http://www.teambath.com/2011/04/18/joe-choong/ |url-status=dead }} His younger brother Henry is also a modern pentathlete and competed for Great Britain at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics.{{cite web |title=Whitgift Sixth Former selected for Modern Pentathlon Youth Olympic Games. style |url=http://whitgift.co.uk/NewsArticle.aspx?NewsID=212 |publisher=Whitgift School |accessdate=1 May 2016 |date=23 July 2014 |archive-date=5 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160805162221/http://whitgift.co.uk/NewsArticle.aspx?NewsID=212 |url-status=dead }}

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.{{cite news |last1=Ballinger |first1=Steve |title=Samantha Murray and Joe Choong retain GB Open Modern Pentathlon Championships titles |url=http://www.bathchronicle.co.uk/Samantha-Murray-Joe-Choong-retain-GB-Open-Modern/story-21308689-detail/story.html |accessdate=1 May 2016 |work=Bath Chronicle |date=30 June 2014}}{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

At the 2014 World Modern Pentathlon Championships held in Warsaw, Poland he finished 16th.{{cite news |last1=Hope |first1=Nick |title=Modern pentathlon: 'Sky the limit' for Joe Choong |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/modern-pentathlon/29096823 |accessdate=1 May 2016 |work=BBC Sport |date=6 September 2014}} 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.{{cite news |last1=Ashton |first1=Tim |title=Athletics: Former Whitgift School pupil is Rio bound |url=http://www.suttonguardian.co.uk/sport/13621926.Athletics__Former_Whitgift_School_pupil_is_Rio_bound/ |accessdate=1 May 2016 |work=Sutton Guardian |date=24 August 2015}}

=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.{{cite web |title=Joe Choong and Freyja Prentice are highest Pentathlon GB finishers during challenging Rio 2016 test event |url=http://www.teambath.com/2016/03/14/modern-pentathlon-world-cup-rio-2/ |publisher=University of Bath |accessdate=1 May 2016 |date=14 March 2016}} 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.{{cite web |title=Career-best finish for student Joe Choong at Modern Pentathlon World Cup in Rome |url=http://www.teambath.com/2016/04/04/rome-world-cup-joe-choong/ |publisher=University of Bath |accessdate=1 May 2016 |date=4 April 2016}}

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.{{cite news |url=https://jerseyeveningpost.com/sport/uk-sport/2019/07/31/british-pentathlete-joe-choong-aims-to-break-the-curse-for-glory-at-tokyo/ |title=British pentathlete Joe Choong aims to 'break the curse' for glory at Tokyo |date=31 July 2019 |work=Jersey Evening Post}}

=2018–2019=

At the 2018 European Modern Pentathlon Championships, Choong won his first major individual medal after finishing third.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/modern-pentathlon/44919063 |title=Britain's Joe Choong wins bronze at European Modern Pentathlon Championships |date=22 July 2018 |work=BBC Sport}} At the 2018 World Modern Pentathlon Championships held in Mexico City, he won a team silver together with and Jamie Cooke and Myles Pillage.{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/modern-pentathlon/2018/09/14/spectacular-sprint-finish-gives-britains-jamie-cooke-modern/ |title=Spectacular sprint finish gives Britain's Jamie Cooke modern pentathlon world title after rival celebrates prematurely |date=14 September 2018 |work=The Telegraph |first=Ben |last=Bloom}}

In 2019, Choong won a silver in the individual event at the Modern Pentathlon World Cup held in Sofia, Bulgaria.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/modern-pentathlon/47923389 |title=Modern Pentathlon: Joe Choong & GB's mixed relay team win World Cup silvers in Sofia |first=Nick |last=Hope |work=BBC Sport |date=14 April 2019}} He also won a team gold at the European Championships with Cooke and Tom Toolis.{{cite news |url=https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/sport/other-sport/pentathlon-gb-end-up-huge-3200359 |title=Pentathlon GB end up with huge medal haul at European Championships in Bath |date=12 August 2019 |work=Somerset Live |first=Daniel |last=Evans}}

The following month at the 2019 World Modern Pentathlon Championships held in Hungary, Choong again won silver in the individual event.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/modern-pentathlon/49623588 |title=Modern Pentathlon World Championships: Britain's Joe Choong wins silver |date=7 September 2019 |work=BBC Sport}}

=2021=

In April 2021, Choong won an individual gold at the World Cup held in Sofia.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/modern-pentathlon/56796478 |title=Modern Pentathlon: GB's Joe Choong wins World Cup gold |date=18 April 2021 |work=BBC Sports}}

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.{{cite news |url=https://news.sky.com/story/tokyo-olympics-team-gbs-joe-choong-wins-gold-in-modern-pentathlon-12375298 |title=Tokyo Olympics: Team GB's Joe Choong wins Britain's first-ever gold in men's modern pentathlon |date=7 August 2021 |work=Sky News}} 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.{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/joseph-choong-pentathlon-tokyo-2020-b1898729.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220609/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/joseph-choong-pentathlon-tokyo-2020-b1898729.html |archive-date=9 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Tokyo Olympics: Joseph Choong wins gold for Team GB in men's modern pentathlon |first=Alex |last=Pattle |work=The Independent |date=7 August 2021}}{{cite news |url=https://www.thetimes.com/sport/athletics/article/tokyo-olympics-joe-choong-completes-golden-double-for-team-gb-in-modern-pentathlon-jhgvc7nkl |title=Tokyo Olympics: Joe Choong helps Great Britain to historic double — and fulfils a 20-year dream |first=Rebecca |last=Myers |date=8 August 2021 |work=The Times}}

Choong was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to modern pentathlon.{{London Gazette|issue=63571|supp=y|page=N17|date=1 January 2022}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/59828368 |title=New Year Honours 2022: Jason Kenny receives a knighthood and Laura Kenny made a dame |date=31 December 2021 |work=BBC Sport}}

=2024=

Choong finished ninth at the Paris Olympics.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/aug/10/gbs-joe-choong-wasnt-mentally-right-to-defend-his-modern-pentathlon-title|title=Joe Choong left with long list of grievances after modern pentathlon struggle|work=The Guardian|accessdate=10 August 2024}}{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/articles/cwy5908glgwo|title='I felt a lot of pressure' - Choong|publisher=BBC Sport|accessdate=10 August 2024}}{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/olympics/2024/08/10/modern-pentathlon-live-latest-updates-joe-choong-paris-2024/|title=Ahmed Elgendy wins modern pentathlon after Joe Choong left himself too much to do|publisher=The Telegraph|accessdate=10 August 2024}}