Modern Pentathlon - BBC Sport (original) (raw)

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Great Britain's Joe Choong says he is "sorry" after a disappointing start to the defence of his Olympics modern pentathlon title.

The 29-year-old won gold in Tokyo and there were hopes he could repeat that feat again in Paris.

But he now looks to be out of contention after finishing 29th out of 36 in the fencing ranking round.

"I’m really disappointed with that. I came here with high hopes," Choong told BBC Sport.

"I've had a tough year with some injuries but thought I was in good physical condition, but I really struggled out there."

The top three positions are occupied by Ukraine's Oleksandr Tovkai, Egypt's Ahmed Elgendy and Pavels Svecovs of Latvia.

Choong has previously spoken of his disappointment in girlfriend, and fellow pentathlete, Olivia Green not being selected for the Games and feels this has had an impact on his performance.

"I think one of the problems is there's not been any clarity on that decision-making process. We've not been able to have any sort of reasonable explanation," he added.

"It's really hard to compete well, especially when things start to go badly, and you'’re not generally happy with the set-up.

"I'm just so gutted. I felt a lot of pressure to do it for Liv, for myself, it's felt like a bit of an uphill battle and I'm just really disappointed.

"I'm so sorry for everyone back home - I really hoped I could go and win another medal. I definitely have it in me, but I've just not done it today."