British athlete Samantha Murray – who learned to ride her grandmother’s horses as a child – won an Olympic silver medal in the modern pentathlon (12 August).
The 22-year-old from Clitheroe, Lancs, was in third after the fencing and swimming phases as she headed into the showjumping. Riding Glen Gold, Samantha had two fences down and a time-penalty and started the run/shoot finale in fourth place.
“Four years ago, I was doing my A levels,” said Samantha. “I’d started pentathlon, but I was by no means performing on an international level.”
The gold medal was won by Laura Asadauskaite from Lithuania, while the bronze went to Brazil’s Yane Marques.
This news story was first published in our Olympic souvenir issue of Horse & Hound (16 August, 2012)
