German modern pentathlete Annika Schleu has responded to allegations she treated her horse cruelly during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Schleu was criticised heavily following the Olympic modern pentathlon contest earlier this month. She had been leading the competition before the show jumping section, where athletes are given just 20 minutes to bond with a horse they have never ridden.

The 31-year-old Schleu was given Saint Boy, who repeatedly refused to cooperate during the event. As a result, a tearful Schleu was eliminated with zero points.

The outrage came after footage emerged of Schleu’s coach appearing to punch the horse for not performing. Kim Raisner was also heard on German TV urging Schleu to "really hit" Saint Boy. Raisner, a former Olympian, was subsequently banned from the Games for her actions.

Schleu was also criticised on social media for whipping Saint Boy too hard and digging her spurs into the horse.

She has now hit back against the accusations in an interview with Germany’s Die Zeit newspaper. The German Animal Welfare Association alleged Schleu had "roughly beaten the frightened and overtaxed the horse several times".

"I did not treat the horse extremely harshly," Schleu said. "I had a crop with me that was checked beforehand. Exactly like the spurs. I am really not aware of any cruelty to animals.

"I started crying relatively quickly. I was so tense because I realised that the competition could be over before I even started riding. The seconds that passed then felt much longer to me. It was a hopeless, difficult situation for the horse and for me."

Germany's Annika Schleu was criticised for treating her horse cruelly during the modern pentathlon at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

Schleu also commented on the backlash she received on social media: "Of course it does something to me. It doesn’t feel nice. I did not expect this severe assessment from the outside.

"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. Once you’ve experienced something like me, it’s very difficult to recover from it."

Schleu was competing at her third Olympic Games after placing 26th at London 2012 and fourth at Rio 2016. She also has three relay world titles and two team world titles to her name.

Britain’s Kate French was the eventual Olympic gold medallist in the women’s modern pentathlon contest. Lithuania’s Laura Asadauskaitė claimed silver, while Sarolta Kovács of Hungary finished with bronze.