German canoe coach fighting for life after crash

A German canoe slalom coach was fighting for his life on Friday after he suffered severe head injuries in a taxi crash at the Rio Olympics.

Stefan Henze, a former canoe world champion and Olympic C-2 silver-medallist in 2004, was involved in the crash early on Friday and had an emergency operation in Rio.

“He suffered head injuries which are life-threatening, according to his doctors,” Germany’s national Olympic committee said in a statement.

“After the accident he got professional emergency treat by the Brazilian first responders.

“After assessing the severity of the injuries he was brought to a hospital with a neuro-surgical department and there he had an emergency operation right away.”

Fellow passenger Christian Kading, a sports scientist who works with the team, was not seriously hurt and was later discharged from hospital.

German medics are in “constant contact” with Rio’s Miguel Couto hospital, the statement said. The canoe slalom team tweeted: “All our thoughts are with Stefan.”