Olympic and world champion Joe Choong isn’t used to coming second, let alone 137th.
Choong is the dominant force in modern pentathlon but since Tokyo has been competing as a fencer in his own right on the World Cup circuit.
Imagine a decathlete running a season as a sprinter and you get a sense of the step up in swordsmanship.
Choong’s pentathlon placings are binary and he completed the set of medals with the world title last month, a childhood dream come true.
By contrast his World Cup fencing results so far are 71st, 115th, 137th and 86th.
It all plays into the 27-year-old’s growth mindset and motivation coming back from an extended post-Tokyo break.
He said: “After the Olympics I needed to reset and refocus mentally after a really long five years.
“The fencing season has given me a slightly different challenge, something new, that has kept me going and kept me interested.
“It has shown me that I’m still not as good as I can be. I’m used to doing well at pentathlon fencing but I’ve gone and been absolutely smashed internationally, which is kind of nice.
“It’s taught me a lot about improving my repertoire of moves and experience of how to manage different situations.”
Choong showed the fruit of his fencing labours at the World Championships in Egypt, recording 24 victories and 11 defeats during the ranking round to lay a fine platform.
Swimming has always been his strongest discipline and he finished third in the 200m freestyle to further stamp his authority on the event.
Choong kept his composure on the laser run, despite a 20-second advantage falling to four, for a handsome victory that matched recently-retired Jamie Cooke’s 2018 success.
Having twice settled for world silver, at junior level in 2013 and senior in 2019, the chase for a maiden global title reignited the fire.
He said: “The Olympics was such a big achievement and coming back, some of the World Cups just didn’t excite me as they used to.
“I’ve never had any kind of world title and since being a kid I’ve dreamt of being the best in the world at something.
“That was the first competition after Tokyo when I was 100% serious and hungry to win it, and it went amazingly.”
The top two British modern pentathletes in the world rankings are both called Choong.
Joe’s younger brother Henry sits 71st and has twice been a whisker off a maiden World Cup podium this season, a realistic prospect for Paris 2024.
Cambridge graduate Henry is ‘the clever one’, according to his sibling, and the pair live across the road from each other in Bath.
Joe said: “You wouldn’t call him a young athlete at 25 but he hasn’t had the years of training others have had and he’s got some years to catch up I think.
“He’s got a few areas to look at - mainly psychology, confidence, believing in himself particularly in the shooting element.
“I messed up on that in Rio so I’d like to see if I can help him with that.
“I think there’s definitely more expectation on him because of his surname.
“It’s funny, some of the stadium commentators at World Cups announce me as ‘Olympic champion’ and then Henry as 'brother of Joe Choong.'
"Of course it adds pressure. It would be a dream to compete at the Olympics with him.”
Sportsbeat 2022