Rio 2016: Germany canoe slalom coach Stefan Henze dies after suffering head injuries car crash
The 35-year-old was taken to hospital with head injuries after the taxi he was travelling in collided with a concrete barrier near the Olympic park
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Your support makes all the difference.Germany canoe slalom coach Stefan Henze has died after being involved in a car crash near the Rio Olympic Park last week.
The 35-year-old was taken to hospital with head injuries after the taxi he was travelling in collided with a concrete barrier last Friday.
Henze, who was in the vehicle along with sports scientist Christian Kaeding, underwent emergency brain surgery but the German Olympic Committee (DOSB) announced on Monday that the 2004 Olympic silver medallist had died as a result of his injuries.
"Words cannot describe what we feel in the team after this terrible loss," said DOSB president Alfons Hormann.
International Olympic Committee president and compatriot Thomas Bach added: "The IOC is mourning the loss of a true Olympian."
The DOSB will hold a memorial service in the Olympic village on Tuesday and has asked the International Olympic Committee to fly the German flag at half-mast at all venues.
Fellow team official Kaeding suffered minor injuries in Friday's accident and was released after hospital treatment.
A German Olympic team spokesman confirmed that Henze, a silver medallist in the canoe slalom doubles at the 2004 Athens Olympics, was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident which occurred at around 04:05am on Friday morning.
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