Germany’s modern pentathlon coach booted from Olympics for punching horse

The Modern Pentathlon Federation on Friday announced the disqualification of Germany’s modern pentathlon coach Kim Raisner after she allegedly punched a horse and encouraged a rider to do the same.

According to Reuters, Raisner will no longer be included in the Saturday men’s individual competition at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics due to her actions during the Friday show jumping event. Raisner reportedly balled her hand into a fist before striking a horse and coached Annika Schleu to “really hit” a horse that refused to jump.

Germany’s Olympic team chief Alfons Hoermann told the news outlet that he was in agreement with the decision and called for the federation to update its rules.

“We were all in agreement that the coach will not be at the competition on Saturday,” Hoermann said. “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.”

The incident in which Raisner urged Schleu to hit a horse happened as the rider held a 24 second advantage going into the show jumping event, where each person competing randomly draws a horse.

Modern pentathletes do not use their own horses for show jumping and instead select a random horse for the event and are given 20 minutes to train with the horse prior to competing, Reuters noted.

The horse Schleu selected, Saint Boy, reportedly failed to heed Schleu’s commands as they warmed up and began to refuse jumps, causing the rider to become frustrated.

She let out a defeated scream and began to cry as the horse continued to not take direction. It was then that Raisner told Schleu to hit the horse and even punched the horse just above its back leg, according to Reuters.

Other competitors, including Michelle Gulyas and Natalya Coyle, struggled with their horses, as well, resulting in them falling out of the top 10, Reuters reported.

“Rules must change in such a way so that rider and horse are protected,” Hoermann said. “The focus must be on the welfare of the animals and the fair competition for athletes.”