The modern pentathlete Annika Schleu is considering doing without her social media activities in the future after the riding drama at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
“I'm almost ready to say that it is more important to me to cope with it mentally than to generate sponsors.
I don't want to have to expose myself to this hatred, ”said the 31-year-old in an interview with the weekly newspaper Die Zeit.
"Once you've experienced something like me, it's very difficult to recover from it."
The hatred that she was shown on social media superimposed the disappointment about the missed medal.
She felt humiliated by the pictures that showed her crying on the horse.
"The past few days have been shocking to me in several ways," she said.
After finishing fourth at the 2016 Summer Games in Rio, Schleu missed a medal in Tokyo because the horse she had been given refused to ride.
After two disciplines, the athlete was still clearly on the gold course.
Schleu remained without points in riding and was ranked 31st in the end. Schleu and national trainer Kim Raisner ("Hit it, hit it right!") Had to take a lot of criticism for their behavior during the competition.
At Raisner's request, Schleu had used the whip to drive the horse.
Schleu defended himself again against the accusation of having tormented her horse in the competition. “I didn't treat the horse extremely harshly. I had a crop with me that was checked beforehand. Just like the spurs. I am really not aware of any cruelty to animals, ”said Schleu. In retrospect, she “could have reacted a bit calmer and more prudent”, Schleu admitted, “you just don't have that much time in the competitive situation, in the stress. And I might have said earlier, okay, it just has no value. "
Schleu was disappointed by the reaction of the German World Federation President Klaus Schormann: “I was definitely left alone by the World Federation.
Klaus Schormann has not even spoken to me, I only know the press releases. ”The pentathlete received support from Athleten Deutschland eV during the Olympics.
The Berliner had previously left open whether she would also take part in the Games in Paris in three years after her Olympic participation in London in 2012, Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and Tokyo.