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Annika Schleu at the Olympic Games in Tokyo in August 2021
Photo:
IVAN ALVARADO / REUTERS
After the scandal in the modern pentathlon at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, the preliminary investigation for alleged violations of the Animal Welfare Act against Annika Schleu has been discontinued.
The 31-year-old will pay 500 euros to a charitable organization.
This means that the investigation will be "finally closed" by the Potsdam Public Prosecutor, their lawyers wrote in a statement.
Schleus' attorneys emphasized that the termination of the proceedings "neither constituted an admission of guilt", nor had the guilt or a sufficient suspicion of a crime been confirmed.
Schleu opted for this route "in agreement with the public prosecutor's office for purely procedural reasons."
Schleu had been on the gold course in Tokyo.
In show jumping, however, the horse that was drawn to her bucked Saint Boy.
Schleu tried, tearfully, to bring the animal back into the course with spurs and a whip.
National coach Kim Raisner also animated her athlete with controversial calls and a punch against the horse.
The world association UIPM had already drawn conclusions from the incident and announced that it would remove show jumping from the pentathlon program.
After the Summer Games in Paris in 2024, the discipline is to be replaced by a new one.
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