KUALA LUMPUR – Great Britain’s Olympic gold medallist Joseph Choong is a proud British citizen but is frequently asked if he would ever represent Malaysia because of his roots.
“It has always been a topic of conversation around family and friends,” Joseph said.
“But I never (seriously) considered it because I’ve been here (in the United Kingdom) my whole life.
“I was born and grew up here, (I’m) a British citizen.”
The 26-year-old hit the headlines after winning a gold medal for Great Britain at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in modern pentathlon.
“That’s not to say I don’t love my Malaysian part. I enjoy being able to experience the culture there. Obviously, my dad is a Malaysian, born and raised there.
“But I am British and I wouldn’t want to change that,” said Joseph during his Instagram live interview with local TV host Ben Ibrahim.
Joseph became the first British pentathlete to win a gold medal for his country in the men’s modern pentathlon at the Olympics, since the sport’s inception in 1912.
Modern pentathlon consists five sports combined into one competitive discipline – swimming, fencing, horse-riding, shooting, and running.
His dad Michael is a Seremban-born doctor who moved to London in the 1990s where he married his British wife, Beverly, also a doctor.
His parents were also sports oriented in their early days with his father being a swimmer while his mother played netball.
A student of the renowned St Paul’s Institution, Michael encouraged an active lifestyle for his sons Joseph and his younger brother Henry, 23, who is also a modern pentathlete and participated at the Youth Championships.
Joseph admits that “Seremban holds a special place in my heart,” adding that, before the Covid-19 pandemic, his family would occasionally pay a visit and recalls his favourite breakfast dishes like nasi lemak and roti canai.
Joseph was born in Orpington in Kent where his family still resides and has a degree in Mathematics from the University of Bath.
When he won the gold medal at the Olympics, Malaysians took to social media to “tumpang glamour” for Joseph’s remote connection to the country. – The Vibes, October 1, 2021
