Joseph Choong

Joseph Choong was born on May 23, 1995, in Orpington, England, to a Malaysian Chinese father and a British mother, both medical professionals. He received his education at New Beacon and Whitgift School before pursuing a degree in mathematics at the University of Bath. It was at the University of Bath, specifically at the Pentathlon GB High Performance Centre, where he honed his skills in modern pentathlon. His younger brother, Henry Choong, also became a modern pentathlete, competing for Great Britain at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics.

Choong’s career in modern pentathlon began to gain traction in 2010 when he became the first British athlete to win the European under-16 modern pentathlon title, also securing a bronze medal in the relay event. He continued to build on this success, winning the GB Open and British Junior Championships in 2013 and defending both titles in 2014. His early achievements include a 16th-place finish at the 2014 World Modern Pentathlon Championships in Warsaw, Poland, and qualifying for the 2016 Summer Olympics by finishing seventh at the 2015 European Championships in Bath.

His Olympic debut was at the Rio 2016 Games, where he finished 10th after entering the final event in second place. Choong made history at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics by becoming the first British man to win an individual Olympic gold medal in modern pentathlon, achieving a Games record performance. This victory contributed to a historic double for Team GB, as Kate French also won gold in the women’s event. Following his Olympic success, he continued to achieve significant milestones, including back-to-back individual World Championship titles in 2022 and 2023, and a European gold in 2023. He competed in his third Olympics at Paris 2024, placing ninth.