SAMANTHA Murray got her season off to the perfect start by clinching victory in the season-opening World Cup in America on Saturday.

Clitheroe’s Murray, a silver medalist at the London Olympics in 2012, finished ahead of home favourite Margaux Isaksen with Britain’s Kate French in third.

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It was Murray’s first competitive outing since she became World Champion in September and the 25-year-old was understandably delighted with her performance after overcoming struggles in qualifying for Saturday’s final.

She said: “I am really proud of myself because in the semi-final I was really shaky and felt like I wasn’t in the right place mentally to do a competition, but I took the time to think about everything and try and find that feeling I had at the World Championships and bring it to the World Cup.

“The thing with pentathlon is that you should be really happy when you make the podium because with five diverse events you never know what’s going to happen.

“I’m just really grateful for every time I stand on a podium because I see that as a massive achievement.

“I was so conscious of Margaux behind me, she’s such a strong athlete,”

“I think what makes a winner isn’t just the hours in the gym, its what you do in your spare time, how aware you are, and how conscious you are of yourself,” Murray added.

It was a fine meeting in Florida for the British team as French stepped alongside Murray onto the podium and Jamie Cooke then won the men’s event on Sunday.

With the Rio Olympics looming on the horizon in a little under 18-months time, Great Britain performance director Jan Bartu admitted he was pleased with the progress his squad is making ahead of the 2015 season.

“These results far exceeded our expectations,” he said. “They show that the athletes and the coaching and support teams are on track in preparations for the Rio Games.”

The second World Cup meeting of the season takes place in Egypt in the middle of next month.