Silver medallist Samantha Murray was always destined to be a winner (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Silver medallist Samantha Murray was always destined to be a winner

11:26am Monday 13th August 2012 in Sport By Lisa Woodhouse, Assistant picture editor

SPORTY Samantha Murray was destined to be a good rider, after sitting on a pony aged just three months old and learning to ride from the age of two.

But her talents didn’t end there. The Clitheroe modern pentathlon Olympian also excelled in running and swimming from the age of four, later becoming a member of the Clitheroe Dolphins swimming club.

Samantha, now 22, was unlike many teenagers.

Her walls were plastered with posters of sports people rather than film stars.

And each day she would wake up at 5am for an early morning pool session before school. And once the school bell had rang, Samantha was either off to the track, fencing, shooting or riding.

Her mum Deborah said: “We would get up at 5am and be out for about 5.20am to go to the pool.

“While Samantha was training I would get ready in the changing rooms and do some work in the car. She would have her breakfast in the car on the way to school.

“During the week she would run three or four times a week, fence twice a week in Stockport, ride at the weekend and shoot on a Tuesday and Friday after running.”

The modern pentathlon is a gruelling Olympic event, combining running, shooting, swimming, horse riding and fencing. Samantha would often ride in competitions at Longton Riding Club near to where her grandma Sylvia Butler, who keeps horses, lives.

To improve her riding skills, a committee member from the club loaned Samantha a horse – Miss Ellie May – when she was around 14.

Deborah said: “Ellie May was a really good jumper and taught Samantha a lot.”

When Samantha was about 10 she was entered into a interschool cross country running competition and became Lancashire and English champion.

Deborah said: “When she was about 14 she started to do biathlons and triathlons when she was approached by a modern pentathlon association and offered a talented athlete scholarship.”

The lottery-funded scheme taught her to shoot and fence.

At the age of 14, Samantha competed for the junior Team GB in Portugal and she became the national pentathlon champion at 16.

Deborah said: “She worked really hard for her A-levels and got the grades she needed to go to Bath University, near to where Team GB train.”

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