The coach of Germany’s modern pentathlon team was disqualified from the Tokyo Olympics after she was seen punching a horse.
Kim Raisner was dismissed her from the remainder of the Games the footage was reviewed on Friday.
The video “showed Ms Raisner appearing to strike the horse Saint Boy, ridden by Annika Schleu (GER), with her fist,” the group said in a statement.
Schleu, who was heading into the showjumping round with a commanding lead, was trying to get Saint Boy to respond to her commands but the horse was not listening to her.
“I said hit it,” Raisner told German outlet DW. “But she didn’t torture the horse, in any way,” said Raisner.
The German Olympic committee responded with a statement: “Numerous recognizable excessive demands on the horse, and rider combinations should be an urgent reason for the international association to amend the rules,” the committee said. “It needs to be changed so that the horse and the rider are protected.”