The legal proceedings launched by the German courts against the German modern pentathlon rider, Annika Schleu, and her trainer, Kim Raisner, both accused of having mistreated a horse at the Tokyo Olympics last August, have been definitively dropped. This is what their lawyers said on Tuesday.
The affair had marked the spirits last summer. While at the top of the modern pentathlon standings before the riding event, the German had inherited in the draw of “Saint-Boy”, another horse than hers. This one refusing the obstacles, Annika Schleu had manhandled him with blows of whips and spurs and had inflicted many blows on him. Kim Raisner, who had also punched the mount, had been excluded from the Olympics.
The rider was finally cleared in September by the international federation. The 31-year-old athlete, prosecuted for violating German animal welfare law, also pledged to pay 500 euros to a general interest association in exchange for the case being closed by the public prosecutor’s office. Potsdam. “This arrangement does not constitute an admission of guilt on the part of Ms. Schleu, nor an admission of guilt by the courts,” underline her lawyers.
The incident, which received much media coverage at the time, had repercussions. At the beginning of November, the Bureau of the International Modern Pentathlon Union (UIPM) thus ruled out riding from the modern pentathlon (which also combines shooting, running, swimming, and fencing) after the Paris Games in two years. . No replacement event has yet been chosen.