Main content

How Samantha Murray became a silver medal-winning pentathlete

Silver medal-winning pentathlete Samantha Murray explores her personal journey to sporting success.

The story of how Samantha Murray became a silver medal winner in the modern pentathlon at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Samantha recalls key events and experiences from her childhood that made her the athlete she is today.

As a child, Samantha loved horses and rode them on the family farm. She had loads of energy and was good at running and sport too. Citing her mum and grandma as "good, solid role models", Samantha always sensed she had a competitive spirit. It was only when Samantha entered a Brownie swimming race, before she could even really swim, and actually won that she realised that she could harness her natural talent and ambition in a more serious way.

When Samantha's running coach suggested she take up fencing too, it became clear that she could handle more than one sport and her career as a modern pentathlete was born.

With animation, family photos and Olympic footage to illustrate her journey, Samantha explains that she’ll always feel like the little girl she once was. She’s still the same person but, "if you try really, really hard at something – you can go a long way."

Release date:

Duration:

4 minutes