Joe Choong didn’t rant. That doesn’t seem to be his style. The modern pentathlete instead calmly aired a series of grievances after finishing ninth on the grounds of the Château de Versailles. Choong’s feelings were only heightened by the fact that a medal ceremony was taking place on a screen within sight of his speech.

In no particular order: Choong was upset that his brother Henry could not compete for Slovakia at the Olympics despite a change in his national team. He was angry that the British team did not select his girlfriend Olivia Green for the Games. And Choong is one of countless athletes upset about the impending elimination of show jumping from the discipline, a process that was accelerated after a German coach beat a horse at the last Games. “A happy athlete is a good athlete,” Choong said.

Three years ago, Choong won gold in Tokyo. His hopes this time were dashed by a poor fencing performance on Thursday. Choong won his swimming heat on the final day, but he knew he was imagining the numbers.

“I’ve not been particularly happy with the training environment for a few months now,” he said. “After Tokyo, I said my goal was to be in Paris with my brother, which was not possible for political reasons; he never got his Slovakian passport in time. And my girlfriend too. I wanted my family to compete with me. This process was really disappointing. I didn’t fully understand the decision-making process. It was difficult to process. It made my task much more difficult mentally.”

“I’m going to take a few months off to clear my head. I need to rediscover my love for the sport. I don’t want to end up in ninth place, I’m an Olympic champion and two-time world champion for a reason. Physically, I showed that I had prepared properly, but mentally I just wasn’t in the right shape to perform a few days ago when it mattered.”

By 2028 in Los Angeles, horses will be removed from the Modern Pentathlon and replaced with a Ninja Warrior-style obstacle course. The change has been met with widespread disdain.

“You have to accept it because ultimately we were not listened to,” Choong said. “If you keep banging your head against the wall, you only hurt yourself. It was a disappointing process. We have been saying all along that the process was not right, that there were some wrongdoings and I think some of them might come to light.”

“I don’t think it affected my performance. If anything, it made me want to get out there and enjoy riding. I come from the most horse-poor background you can imagine, South London. Riding was the last sport I tried. I started when I was 15. I know I’m not a perfect rider but I’ve learned to love it. As for the most versatile sport here, you can’t replace working with a live animal. I’m sure steeplechase is a great sport in its own right, I just wish they would find their own way into the Olympics rather than attaching themselves to our sport.” Ouch.

But that was not all. “People say we are modernising the modern pentathlon again, but you can’t say that when sports like archery are still in the Olympics,” said Choong. “We will still have a sport called modern pentathlon, but that is not the real one.”

The 29-year-old could try to compete in Los Angeles, but that seems unlikely at the moment. Ahmed Elgendy won gold for Egypt with a world record of 1,555 points. Silver went to Taishu Sato from Japan, and bronze went to Italy’s Giorgio Malan.

Team GB have high hopes of a medal in the women’s modern pentathlon on Sunday. Kerenza Bryson topped the leaderboard in her semi-final with 1,402 points. Kate French, the reigning Olympic champion, qualified three points behind in fifth place.