 Samantha Murray with her silver medal at the London 2012 Olympic games after her victory in modern pentathlon | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nationality | British | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1989-09-25)25 September 1989 (age 36)[1] Preston, Lancashire, England[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 60 kg (132 lb)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Country |  United Kingdom | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Modern Pentathlon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coached by | Istvan Nemeth | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Samantha Murray (born 25 September 1989) is an Englishmodern pentathlete. She won the silver medal at the2012 Summer Olympics, and the bronze medal at the2012 World Championships. In 2014, she won individual gold and team silver medals at the2014 World Championships. In 2015, Murray reached world number #1 in the Modern Pentathlon World Rankings after taking Gold at the USA World Cup followed by a 5th place at the Berlin World Championships. Murray finished in 8th Place at the2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, Brazil.
Murray was born on 25 September 1989 inPreston, Lancashire.[1] Murray grew up in Clitheroe and attended Brookside Primary School, and then Bowland High School in Grindleton. Murray joinedClitheroe Dolphins Swimming Club at the age of 7, and began competing in local galas. It was through the swimming club that she was asked to try a localModern Biathlon. She instantly took to running and decided to pursue running at higher level.
She started training for athletics at the age of 11, joiningHyndburn Athletics Club, and went on to win the Lancashire County Championships for Cross Country and 1500 metres in her first season as an Under 13 in 2001. She continued running for Lancashire and competed at English Schools and Inter Counties throughout her teen years. She moved toBlackburn Harriers Athletes Club in 2006, after a period of difficulty with her running career. Her hero was British middle distance runnerKelly Holmes, and she was inspired by her success at the2004 Summer Olympics.
From birth, Murray was around horses as her grandparents have a small farm inLongton, Lancashire. She spent weekends and school holidays with the horses and competed from an early age at Longton Riding Club. She rode for the club at Riding Club events. Murray joined Ribble Valley Modern Pentathlon Team and began pistol shooting. She then was taken to a fencing club inBolton and enjoyed the sport. By doing this she was able to compete in her firstModern Pentathlon.[1]
It was here where she saw a poster ofSteph Cook winning the Gold Medal at the2000 Summer Olympics. Murray was inspired by the poster and knew that she wanted an Olympic Medal. She had a childhood dream of competing at the Olympics. Murray went on to become National Youth Champion in Modern Pentathlon for consecutive years. She won a host of international competitions as a Junior including the Olympic Hopes Competition.
Murray had a period of time out of sport whilst studying for herA-Levels.[1] atCRGSsixth form.
She competed at the Junior World Championships and Junior European Championships in 2010, where the British team won gold in both events.[1] Individually, she finished 8th in the World competition and 15th overall in the European event.[2][3] The team of Murray,Katy Burke,Freyja Prentice andHeather Fell also competed in the2010 World Modern Pentathlon Championships, where they placed overall in second place, winning the silver medal. Murray placed in 22nd position in the individual competition in her first senior competition.[4][5]
Murray finished in sixth place at the World Cup event inCharlotte, North Carolina, in March 2012.[6] Following that she competed in the Budapest Cup where she was victorious.[7] Her first World Cup medal came inRostov, Russia, in April 2012, when she won the bronze medal behindAnastasiya Prokopenko andVictoria Tereshchuk. She had been leading going into the final day, but was overtaken during the run/shoot.[8]
Along withMhairi Spence, she was named to theBritish team at the2012 Summer Olympics as the two femalemodern pentathlon competitors,[9] and won the silver medal in the last event of the games.[10]
She is a graduate of theUniversity of Bath where she studied Politics and French.[11]
