Rio 2016: German Olympic coach fighting for his life after serious car accident

Stefan Henze, 35, was not wearing a seatbelt when the taxi he was travelling in collided head-on into a concrete barrier

Stefan Henze (left) suffered life-threatening head injuries in a car accident on Friday morning in Rio de Janeiro (Getty)

A German Olympic coach is in hospital with life-threatening injuries after he was involved in a serious car accident in Rio de Janeiro on Friday morning.

Canoe slalom coach Stefan Henze, 35, was travelling back to the Olympic Village in a taxi when the car struck a concrete barrier head on. Henze, who was in the vehicle along with sports scientist Cristian Katini, 35, was transferred to a local hospital for emergency brain surgery.

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.

According to paramedics who attended the scene, the pair were “travelling in a taxi on the way to the Olympic Village, when the driver lost control of the vehicle. It crossed over and crashed on the opposite side of Avenida das Americas.”

The taxi driver, Artur de Almeida Campos, added in a statement that Katini had grabbed the steering wheel unexpectedly when they got to a fork in the road on the main Avenida das Americas, leading to the loss of control.

A German Olympic team [DOSB] statement read: “According to doctors [Stefan’s] head injuries are life-threatening.

Cristian Katini (left) and Stefan Henze (right) were involved in a serious car accident (Facebook)

“After realising the extent of his injuries [Henze] was taken to a clinic with a special neurosurgical department and underwent emergency surgery.”

Henze won a silver medal at the 2004 Olympic Games (Getty)

The crash happened at around 04:05am, with Henze undergoing surgery at the Miguel Couto Hospital around 10:00 local time in Brazil.