Germany's Lena Schoneborn anchored the German relay team to World Championship gold ©Getty Images

Beijing 2008 Olympic champion Lena Schöneborn continued her superb form by taking women's team relay gold along with Annika Schleu on the opening day of the World Modern Pentathlon Championships in Moscow.

The German duo trailed British rivals Samantha Murray and Joanna Muir after the fencing, swimming and riding sections.

But a superb performance in the run-shoot finale proved enough for a 10 second triumph over the British pair as they crossed the line in a time of 11min 45.02sec.

Katsiaryna Arol and Iryna Prasiantsova produced the fastest run-shoot display to claim the bronze medal for Belarus.

Schöneborn will hope the victory marks the start of a golden Championships as she seeks to continue the form that has already seen her win this year's World Cup final.

Joanna Muir and Samantha Murray celebrate their British silver medal ©PentathlonGB
Joanna Muir and Samantha Murray celebrate their British silver medal ©PentathlonGB

It comes after the Championships opened with a special address from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"Russia has made a valuable contribution to the development of modern pentathlon," he said.

"As if in recognition of its credit, Moscow has been vested with the right to host its fifth World Modern Pentathlon Championships."

Action is set to continue tomorrow's with the men's relay event.