German modern pentathlon coach banned from Olympics for hitting horse

TOKYO – The coach of the German modern pentathlon team was kicked out of the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday for, among other things, hitting a horse.

Kim Raisner was caught on camera hitting the horse and urging rider Annika Schleu to “really hit” her mount after she hesitated to jump at a pivotal moment in Friday’s competition.

At that point Schleu was in the lead – she went from 1st to 31st and left the arena in tears because the horse, whose name is “Saint Boy”, wouldn’t budge.

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Still, that was no excuse for his coach’s behavior, the Modern Pentathlon Foundation (UIPM) said in a statement on Saturday morning.

“The UIPM Executive Board (EC) gave Germany coach Kim Raisner a black card, disqualifying it from the rest of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games,” he said.

“His actions were found to be in violation of the UIPM competition rules, which are applied to all recognized modern pentathlon competitions, including the Olympic Games.”

Raisner was not part of the team’s efforts on Saturday.

Germany’s Olympic team chief Alfons Hoermann said earlier that the coach had been taken out of the men’s individual competition. He also demanded urgent changes to the rules of the international federation.

“The rules have to change so that the rider and the horse are protected,” Hoermann said. “The emphasis must be on animal welfare and fair competition for athletes.”

“We also consider that an urgent review of the incident is necessary, especially in terms of animal protection, and that the national and international federations draw their conclusions.”

Modern pentathlon is a venerable Olympic sport that dates back to 1912 and sees athletes compete in five different events: fencing, freestyle, equestrian show jumping, pistol shooting and distance running.

Athletes do not choose their horse and only have 20 minutes to warm up their mount and bond with the animal.

Obviously, Schleu and “Saint Boy” failed to click.

Schleu had a dominant lead in show jumping, but with each refusal the German’s frustration increased.

She eventually exploded with a scream that echoed through the empty stadium as tears rolled down her face. Her trainer urged her to hit the horse, with Raisner’s orders to “really hit, hit,” heard live in Germany, sparking a wave of criticism.

Raisner herself hit the horse once over the back leg.

Top ranked Michelle Gulyas and Irish Natalya Coyle suffered the same fate with their horses as they saw their own medal hopes dashed, dropping the top 10 and out of competition.

Briton Kate French won gold.