Murray medal magic marks miracle ride
BRITAIN’S Samantha Murray hailed her incredible journey from schoolgirl to London 2012 Olympic silver medallist after snatching second place in the modern pentathlon on the final day of the Games.
Murray shone in the final run-shoot event to climb from fourth onto the podium, behind Lithuanian Laura Asadauskaite, and take Great Britain’s closing medal tally to 65.
“Four years ago I was doing my A-levels at school, I’d started pentathlon but I was by no means performing on an international level,” said the 22-year-old.
“Since then I’ve come through the ranks, won some medals along the way and made it to the Olympic Games. If you have a goal, if there’s anything you want to achieve in life, don’t let anybody get in your way.”
Murray’s score of 5356 was enough to nudge Brazilian Yane Marques into bronze medal position and maintain Team GB’s record of winning a medal in the sport at every Olympics since it was introduced at Sydney in 2000. Fellow Brit and world champion Mhairi Spence could only finish 21st.
Elsewhere, Stephen Kiprotich won the men’s marathon to claim a first medal of the Games for Uganda. Kenyan pair Abel Kirui and Wilson Kipsang took silver and bronze.
The USA’s star-studded Dream Team beat Spain 107-100 to retain men’s basketball gold at the North Greenwich Arena, while Team GB’s Liam Killeen crashed out and suffered a suspected broken ankle on the second lap of the men’s mountain bike competition at Hadleigh Farm in Essex. Czech Jaroslav Kulhavy won gold.