Joe Choong was not ranting. That does not appear to be his style. The modern pentathlete was, instead, calmly articulating a series of grievances after finishing ninth in the grounds of the Château de Versailles. Choong’s sentiments were only intensified by a medal ceremony taking place on a screen within view of where he spoke.
In no particular order: Choong was upset his brother, Henry, could not compete for Slovakia at the Olympics despite switching national allegiance. He was angry about Team GB not selecting his girlfriend, Olivia Green, for the Games. And Choong is one of umpteen athletes angry about the upcoming removal of showjumping from this event, a process accelerated after a German coach punched a horse at the last Games. “A happy athlete is a good athlete,” said Choong.
In Tokyo three years ago, Choong claimed gold. His hopes this time were fatally undermined by a poor fencing performance on Thursday. Choong did win his swimming heat on the final day but knew he was making up the numbers.
“I have not been particularly happy with the training environment since a couple of months ago,” he said. “I said after Tokyo that my goals were to be in Paris with my brother, which couldn’t happen because of political reasons; he never got his Slovakian passport in time. Also, my girlfriend. I wanted to have my family competing with me. That process was really disappointing. I didn’t quite understand the decision-making process. It has been difficult to work through that. It made my job a lot harder from a mental point of view.
“I am going to have a couple of months away to clear my head. I need to find love for the sport again. I don’t want to end on a ninth, I am an Olympic champion and double world champion for a reason. I showed physically I got the preparation right, mentally I just wasn’t in the right head space to perform when it mattered a couple of days ago.”
With horses to be removed from modern pentathlon by the time Los Angeles and 2028 comes around, a ninja warrior-style obstacle course will take their place. The switch has been met with widespread scorn.
“You have to accept it because ultimately we weren’t listened to,” Choong said. “If you keep banging your head against a brick wall, all you do is hurt your head. It was a disappointing process. We said all along the process wasn’t right, that there were some misdeeds in there and I think some of those might be coming to light.
“I don’t think that affected my performance. If anything it made me want to go out and enjoy the riding. I am from the least horsey background you can think of, in south London. Riding was the last sport I picked up. I started when I was 15, I know I am not a perfect rider but I have grown to love it. In terms of having the most diverse sport here, you cannot replace working with a living animal. I am sure obstacles is a great sport on its own, I just wish they worked their own way into the Olympics rather than piggy-backing on to our sport.” Ouch.
There was more. “People say you are making modern pentathlon modern again but you can’t make that argument when sports like archery are still in the Olympics,” Choong said. “We will still have a sport called modern pentathlon but it is not the real one.”
The 29-year-old could make a bid to feature in Los Angeles but at this point that seems unlikely. Ahmed Elgendy took gold for Egypt with a world record points tally of 1,555. Silver went to Taishu Sato of Japan, with Italy’s Giorgio Malan claiming bronze.
Team GB have high hopes for modern pentathlon medal glory in the women’s event on Sunday. Kerenza Bryson topped the standings in her semi-final with 1,402 points. Kate French, the reigning Olympic champion, qualified in fifth, three points behind.
