German Olympic coach dies in Rio after car accident

Stefan Henze, right, and Marcus Becker at the 2004 Olympics.
(Image credit: Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images)

Stefan Henze, the coach of Germany's canoe slalom team, died Monday from injuries he sustained in a car crash last week in Rio.

Henze, 35, was headed to the athletes village with another German team official when their taxi was in an accident, The Associated Press reports. He was rushed to a local hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery. When Henze died, he was surrounded by his family, the German team said. Henze won a silver medal in canoe slalom at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, and Germany's flag will be flown at half-staff at all Olympic sites in Rio in his memory.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.