A German coach was expelled from the Olympics for urging an athlete to “really hit” the horse who refused to jump or trot during the pentathlon.
Horse rider Annika Schleu’s horse refused to ride, leaving the athlete in tears. She struggled to control Saint Boy during the showjumping round at the women’s event on Friday.
The event’s governing body said that they found a video of the coach in the 2004 Olympics striking the horse with her fist, uring it to move.
“Her [coach] actions were deemed to violate the UIPM competition rules, which are applied to all recognised modern pentathlon competitions, including the Olympic Games,” the governing body said in a statement.
“The UIPM Executive Board [EB] has given a black card to the Germany team coach Kim Raisner, disqualifying her from the remainder of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
“The EB decision was made today at the Tokyo Stadium before the resumption of the men’s modern pentathlon competition.”
Tokyo Olympics: ‘Her face says it all’ – Annika Schleu loses modern pentathlon lead after horse refuses to jump
Saint Boy is not among the horses due to be ridden during Saturday’s men’s modern pentathlon competition.
The horse cleared just four fences before crashing into the fifth and then repeatedly refused to jump, eliminating Schleu with zero points as it had done earlier to another competitor, Gulnaz Gubaydullina.
The international football team of Canada shocked the USA team, as the latter faced a bitter defeat. Canada snatched a 1-0 win to reach the final of the Olympic women’s football tournament at Tokyo 2020.
Kashima Stadium witnessed history, as Canada beat the world champion in the semi-final. The girls reached the final for the first time.
It is a hard-earned win for the Canadian players, who scored a goal from a penalty. Jessie Fleming signed her name with gold as she scored the decider.
The USA team paid for a costly mistake committed by Tierna Davidson, who fouled Deanne Rose in the Penalty spot.
USA’s lamentable failure
This defeat came as a shock to the USA team, as the girls hoped to reach the final. This is their second time in a row to bid farewell to the Games from the semi-final.
It is worth mentioning that the USA team is a two-time winner of the football Olympic title.
The team played their best in the second half and created multiple chances, but Canada defending line played a brilliant match.
Adrianna Franch entered the pitch in the 30th min to substitute Alyssa Naeher, who faced an injury.
Naeher was the hero of the quarter-final against the Netherlands, as both teams played penalty shootout. The US first-choice goalkeeper led the US to face Canada in the semi-final.
However, the team will still fight. They want to get back home with something – the bronze at least. They will face the losing side from the Australia-Sweden semi-final fixture.
Canada quest to the final
The Canucks will now face Australia or Sweden in Friday’s gold medal match.
Likewise, Canada will face the winning side from the Australia-Sweden semi-final fixture.
Canada has made history, as they beat the USA for the first time since 2001. This makes them head and shoulders in terms of the final, regardless of whom they are playing.
It is worth noting that the foul Davidson committed has been missed at first. But VAR had the upper hand in the situation, as the referee reconsidered the decision to become a penalty.
Even scoring the penalty was not easy, as Adrianna Franch, the substitute goalkeeper, moved with the ball. Fleming, in turn, had shot the ball to the hard bottom corner, scoring the winning goal in 75min.
Thoughts on the match
Forward Megan Rapinoe, 36, said:
“It sucks. We just didn’t have it today,” said Megan Rapinoe, the US forward, “Just too many errors from us again. Obviously, we never want to lose to Canada. I don’t think I’ve ever lost Canada. So it’s a bitter one.
“I’ve been thinking about the whole tournament, and we just didn’t have that juice that we normally do.”
