Pentathletes compete in five different sports for a medal. For the jumping discipline, they are paired with a horse at random and have 20 minutes to get to know it before competition.
Kim Raisner, Germany’s modern pentathlon coach, has been disqualified from this weekend’s men’s individual competition at the Olympics after an incident on Friday, August 6.
The coach not only hit a horse with her fist, but she urged rider Annika Schleu to “really hit” the horse after it refused to jump, according to the New York Post.
In a statement about the incident, Germany’s Olympic team chief Alfons Hoermann said, “We were all in agreement that the coach will not be at the competition on Saturday,”
“We also consider that an urgent review of the incident is necessary, especially in terms of animal protection,” he added, “and that the national and international federations draw their conclusions.”
Pentathletes compete in five different sports for a medal. However, for the jumping discipline, they do not use their own horses. Instead, they draw one at random and then have 20 minutes to warm up and get to know the horse before competition.
Schleu was in the lead heading into the jumping portion of the event, but her chosen horse, Saint Boy, began misbehaving.
He refused to jump, which agitated and frustrated Schleu. At one point, she loudly screamed and began crying.
It was then when Raisner was heard saying, “really hit it, hit.” It was at that point when she punched the horse above the back leg.
“Rules must change in such a way so that rider and horse are protected,” Hoermann explained. “The focus must be on the welfare of the animals and the fair competition for athletes.”
