Great Britain’s Joe Choong has qualified for the final of the men’s modern pentathlon at the Paris Olympics.

The reigning Olympic champion finished eighth in his semi-final after the showjumping, fencing bonus round, 200m freestyle swim and laser run, with the top nine qualifying for Saturday’s final.

It was an improved performance from Choong, who struggled in the opening round of the competition and said the disappointment of his girlfriend, and fellow pentathlete, Olivia Green not being selected for the Games impacted him.

It is the first time there have been semi-finals to determine the finalists at the Games and there was a new Olympic record set by overall leader Egypt’s Ahmed Elgendy – scoring 1,516 points to break Choong’s Olympic record of 1,482.

Choong finished 17th overall, but points are not carried over to the final.

Team GB team-mate Charles Brown came up just short of qualifying and would require others to pull out of the final to have a chance of participating.