Britain wins modern pentathlon team gold
The British women’s modern pentathlon team maintained their winning streak by taking gold at the World Championships in Chinese Taipei on Saturday (24 August).
The British trio of Olympic silver medalist Samantha Murray, Kate French and Mhairi Spence all put in solid performances to secure back-to-back world titles for the women’s team.
The team fought off competition from the Chinese (silver) and Ukraine (bronze) to defend the title they won in Rome last year.
Performance director, Jan Bartu, said: “What a day! It’s been a really tough competition for the girls, but they proved they’re the best team in the world by winning the World Championships team title in consecutive years and the Europeans this year.”
Meanwhile Nick Woodbridge — who was only confirmed for the team two weeks ago after injury problems — won Britain’s first men’s individual medal at a World Championship for 20 years.
“It hasn’t really sunk in yet, but it feels good,” said Nick, whose previous best performance of the year had been 16th at the Rio World Cup in March.
“I’ve had a difficult year so it’s nice to finish on a high,” he added.
Never miss out on the latest happenings in the equestrian world
“I’ve had a couple of injuries that have prevented me getting the results I wanted and I think I needed this today.
“Winning silver at the World Championships is by far my best result.”
Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now
Sophia Heath joined Horse & Hound in July 2013 having previously worked for the Daily Telegraph's Olympics website, CNN International and Omnisport. A Durham graduate with a Masters in journalism from City University, Sophia has evented, showjumped and hunted. Sophia left Horse & Hound in early 2015 to join an international boating website.