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JOSEPH Choong rose to fame during the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games held last year, when he became the first Briton to win a gold medal for the country in the men’s modern pentathlon.
His popularity quickly spread to Malaysia when local netizens discovered he had a golden link to the country through his father, Michael Choong.
Choong senior, originally from Seremban, had moved to Australia when he was 13 years old and lived there for a decade before relocating to the United Kingdom. He met his British wife, Beverly, in the 1990s, got married and went on to have two sons, Joseph and Henry.
The 27-year-old Joe developed a keen interest in sports as a young boy.
Joe said that he felt very lucky that he was absorbed into the national setup and credited his success to the country’s sports programme, where its institutions have a strict and just selection policy. The teams train and only the best athletes come forward and get selected to represent the country for the Olympics.
Michael, who was also an avid sportsman in his school days, witnessed how his son underwent rigorous training and came out on top to be one of the best athletes to represent the UK.
“I kept telling Joe, do not be fooled by thinking they will train you up. You have got to step up.
“You are a pawn for them to use to win medals for the country. So, you must be the best.”
Pentathlon is an athletic event featuring five disciplines – swimming, fencing, horse-riding, shooting, and running – in a sport derived from ancient Greece.
Joe is also a strong advocate in making the horse-riding discipline fairer and safer for both athletes and horses.
The International Union of Modern Pentathlon (UIPM) is currently exploring the possibility of replacing horse-riding with obstacle course racing altogether.
“A huge majority of pentathletes want to keep horse-riding and change not just the rules of the competition, but to encourage the right attitude towards horses and treating them with respect.
“That is how we can improve the riding discipline in the sport,” Joe added. – The Vibes, September 22, 2022
