Cheong Jun Hoong () (born 16 April 1990) is a retired Malaysian diver. She won a silver medal in the synchronised 10m platform event with

Pandelela Rinong Dato Pandelela Rinong anak Pamg (born 2 March 1993) is a Malaysian diver. She has won two Olympic medals and seven World Championships medals. Pandelela represented Malaysia at the 2008 Summer Olympics where she finished 27th in 10m platfo ...

at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

. At the

2017 World Aquatics Championships The 17th FINA World Championships () were held in Budapest, Hungary from 14 to 30 July 2017.

, she became Malaysia's first diving world champion after winning the 10m platform event.

Early and personal life

Cheong Jun Hoong was born in

Ipoh Ipoh (, ) is the capital city of the Malaysian States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Perak. Located on the Kinta River, it is nearly north of Kuala Lumpur and southeast of George Town, Penang, George Town in neighbouring Penang ...

Perak Perak (; Perak Malay: ''Peghok'') is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kel ...

. She is the daughter of Cheong Sun Meng and Leow Lai Kuan. She has a younger sister. Her fascination in

aquatics Aquatics may refer to: *Aquatic sports in the Olympics and other international competitions, including the disciplines of swimming, diving, synchronized swimming, water polo, and open water swimming *Water-related sports more broadly (including boa ...

began at the age of four. At age nine, she started her training in

diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), ...

with

's state coach
Zhou Xiyang
In 2004, she was offered a place at the

Bukit Jalil Sports School The Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS) (, SSBJ) is the first sports school in Malaysia. The school is located at the Kompleks Sukan Negara, National Sports Complex compound in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur. Sekolah Sukan Bukit Jalil was opened in 19 ...

. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in Communications from

Universiti Putra Malaysia University of Putra Malaysia ( Malay: ''Universiti Putra Malaysia''), abbreviated as UPM, is a Malaysian public research university located in Serdang, Selangor. Formerly it was named Universiti Pertanian Malaysia (Agricultural University of ...

Career

Cheong won a bronze medal in 1m springboard at the

2010 Asian Games The 2010 Asian Games (), officially known as the XVI Asian Games () and also known as Guangzhou 2010 (), were a regional multi-sport event held from November 12 to 27, 2010 in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China (although several events commenced ear ...

. She made her Olympic debut at the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

where she finished 20th in 3m springboard and eighth in 3m synchronized springboard with

. Cheong represented

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

at the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games (), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014 (; ), were an international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Commonwealth Games as governed by the Commonwea ...

, where she competed in the 1 m, 3 m, and 10 m events. She placed 8th in the 1 m event, 12th in the 3 m event, 5th in the 3 m synchronised event, 6th in the 10 m event and 4th in the 10 m synchro event with partner Leong Mun Yee, narrowly losing the bronze medal to fellow athletes

and

Nur Dhabitah Sabri Nur Dhabitah binti Sabri (born 12 July 1999) is a Malaysian Diving (sport), diver. She is the youngest Malaysian diver to champion two senior international competitions. Early and personal life Dhabitah was born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to ...

. At the

2014 Asian Games The 2014 Asian Games (), officially known as the 17th Asian Games () and also known as Incheon 2014 (), were a pan-Asian multi-sport event held from 19 September to 4 October 2014 in Incheon, South Korea. On 17 April 2007, Incheon was awarded ...

Incheon Incheon is a city located in northwestern South Korea, bordering Seoul and Gyeonggi Province to the east. Inhabited since the Neolithic, Incheon was home to just 4,700 people when it became an international port in 1883. As of February 2020, ...

, she won a silver medal in 3m synchro springboard with

Ng Yan Yee Wendy Ng Yan Yee (born 11 July 1993) is a Malaysian diver. Career Early beginning Ng begin diving at the age of 13 at Bandar Tun Razak Swimming Pool. She was a rhythmic gymnast but her talent was spotted by the national coach, Yang Zhuliang ...

. She also won a bronze medal in individual 3m event. In August 2016, she participated at the Rio Summer Olympics in the 3m platform, 10m synchronized platform with

and 3m synchronized springboard with

. She won her first Olympic medal, a silver in the 10m synchronized platform with a final score of 344.34. However, she did not qualify for the final of the 3m event. She placed 5th in the 3m synchro event. Due to her persisting back pain, in October 2016 she withdrew from the 2016 FIN A Diving Grand Prix in

Kuching Kuching ( , ), officially the City of Kuching, is the capital and the most populous city in the States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Sarawak in Malaysia. It is also the capital of Kuching Division. The city is on the Sarawak Ri ...

Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...

. In June 2017, Cheong returned from a back injury to win the bronze medal in the 1m springboard event at the 7th Asian Diving Cup in

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

after withdrawing from the

Kazan Kazan; , IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzanis the largest city and capital city, capital of Tatarstan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka (river), Kazanka Rivers, covering an area of , with a population of over 1. ...

and

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places *Detroit–Windsor, Michigan-Ontario, USA-Canada, North America; a cross-border metropolitan region Australia New South Wales *Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area Queen ...

legs of the 2017 FINA Diving World Series earlier. Cheong became Malaysia's first diving World Champion, when she took home the gold medal in the 10m platform event in the

2017 World Aquatics Championships The 17th FINA World Championships () were held in Budapest, Hungary from 14 to 30 July 2017.

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, pipping her closest rival by just 1.5 points. Four of the seven judges gave a perfect 10 on her best dive in the competition, and she finished with an overall score of 397.5. She also won a bronze in the 10m synchronized 10 platform event with

with a total score of 328.74. Cheong was chosen as one of the flag-bearers for Malaysia at the

2017 Southeast Asian Games The 2017 Southeast Asian Games (), officially known as the 29th Southeast Asian Games, or the 29th SEA Games, and commonly known as Kuala Lumpur 2017, were a Southeast Asian multi-sport event that took place from 19 to 30 August 2017 in Kuala ...

alongside two reigning world champions cyclist

Azizulhasni Awang Malay styles and titles#State titles, Dato' Muhammad Azizulhasni Awang (born 5 January 1988) is a Malaysians, Malaysian professional Track cycling, track cyclist based in Melbourne, Australia. Nicknamed "The Pocket Rocketman" due to his small ...

and silat exponent Mohd Al-Jufferi Jamari.

Retirement

On 4 January 2022, Cheong announced her retirement after her contract as a full-time athlete with the National Sports Council and Malaysia Swimming was not renewed. One of the reasons Cheong provided for her retirement was a second knee injury she acquired in 2018 and had not been able to re-achieve a certain level of performance since then."Jun Hoong, Malaysia's first world champion diver, calls time on her breakthrough career"
''

FINA World Aquatics, formerly known as FINA (; ), is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administering international competitions in List of water sports, water sports. It is one of several interna ...

''. 5 January 2022. Retrieved 6 January 2022.

Awards

* OCM-Coca-Cola Olympian Award: 2016 * National Sportswoman of the Year: 2017

Honours

Honours of Malaysia

* : ** Member of the

Order of the Defender of the Realm The Most Esteemed Order of the Defender of the Realm () is a Malaysian federal award presented for meritorious service to the country. The Order Motto are 'Dipeliharakan Allah-Pangkuan Negara' (By the Grace of God-Defender of the Realm). The o ...

(AMN) (2017)

References

External links

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cheong, Jun Hoong 1990 births Living people Sportspeople from Ipoh Malaysian sportspeople of Chinese descent Malaysian female divers University of Putra Malaysia alumni Olympic divers for Malaysia Divers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Divers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Divers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Divers at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Divers at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Divers at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Divers at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Asian Games silver medalists in diving Asian Games bronze medalists in diving Divers at the 2010 Asian Games Divers at the 2014 Asian Games Olympic silver medalists for Malaysia Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in diving Asian Games silver medalists for Malaysia Asian Games bronze medalists for Malaysia Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games World Aquatics Championships medalists in diving Commonwealth Games gold medallists in diving Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Malaysia SEA Games gold medalists for Malaysia SEA Games silver medalists for Malaysia SEA Games bronze medalists for Malaysia SEA Games medalists in diving Members of the Order of the Defender of the Realm Competitors at the 2007 SEA Games Competitors at the 2011 SEA Games Competitors at the 2013 SEA Games Competitors at the 2015 SEA Games Competitors at the 2017 SEA Games 21st-century Malaysian sportswomen Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games