British Olympian Joe Choong blames his disappointing result in Paris on Team GB not selecting his girlfriend

British pentathlete Joe Choong has suggested that he would have performed better at Paris 2024 if his girlfriend had also been selected by Team GB.

Choong won gold in the men’s modern pentathlon in Tokyo three years ago but missed out on a medal by a significant margin in Paris, where he placed ninth.

After the event ended on Saturday night, Choong vented his frustration at Team GB for not picking Olivia Green – who won bronze at last year’s European Games – to compete in the women’s modern pentathlon this summer.

Choong also made it clear he was disappointed that his brother Henry could not compete against him in Paris after switching national allegiance from Britain to Slovakia.

‘I wish I’d been able to bring home a medal this time round,’ he said. ‘I showed physically I got my preparation right, I just mentally wasn’t in the right head space to perform when it mattered a couple of days ago so I left too much to do.’

But Chong was unable to retain his title and eventually finished in ninth place at Paris 2024

He added: ‘The saying goes “a happy athlete’s a good athlete”, and I think that’s true. I’ve not been particularly happy with the training environment for a couple of months. 

‘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 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.’

Olivia Green, pictured at a training camp in January, was not selected for this summer’s Games

Green is Choong’s girlfriend and he believes her absence negatively affected his performance

Choong was asked on Saturday night if he was planning to compete in Los Angeles in 2028. He replied: ‘I’m going to keep going for another year. I don’t want to end on a ninth, I’m an Olympic champion for a reason, double world champion. I want to end on a high.’

Gold in the men’s modern pentathlon this summer went to Egypt’s Ahmed Elgendy, with Taishu Sato of Japan taking silver and Italy’s Giorgio Malan getting bronze.