BERLIN — Twice Olympic jumping team gold medallist Franke Sloothaak has pulled out of next month’s Sydney Games because his horse is injured, the German Equestrian Union said on Tuesday.

Sloothaak will miss what would have been his fifth Olympic appearance because his horse, Joli Coeur, has not fully recovered from a leg tendon injury.

The veteran rider’s first taste of Olympic success was a bronze medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

After slipping outside medal contention at the 1988 Seoul Games, Sloothaak returned as part of the gold medal-winning German team at the last two Olympic Games.

Source: SOCOG