Australian showjumper cleared to resume Olympic bid after ‘mankini’ controversy

Shane Rose, 50, had been stood down from competition after taking part in a fancy dress showjumping event but has been cleared by Equestrian Australia

Shane Rose apologised for the incident (shane.rose.eventing/Instagram)

A three-time Olympic medallist who was stood down from competition after wearing a mankini during a showjumping event has been cleared to resume his bid for the Paris 2024 Games.

Shane Rose, 50, wore the Borat-inspired G-string at an unofficial fancy dress showjumping event at Wallaby Hill near Sydney last weekend.

Riders were encouraged to wear fancy dress for the event and Rose sported three outfits – a gorilla suit, a Duffman outfit from the Simpsons and the mankini, a skimpy swimwear item popularised by Sacha Baron Cohen’s comedy character Borat.

Equestrian Australia (EA) reviewed the incident but concluded the 50-year-old team eventer had not breached their code of conduct.

"Shane has reflected on the incident, has apologised and understands the high standards expected of everyone involved in our high performance programme," EA chief executive Darren Gocher said in a statement.

"With the matter now resolved, Shane and his team mates are now looking forward to continuing to focus their attention on qualifying for Paris."

Rose, who won a silver medal at the Beijing and Tokyo Olympics and winner of a bronze in Rio, had apologised. In a pFacebook post, which was later deleted, he said he had no intention of offending anyone and received a huge amount of support from the equestrian community with many applauding his sense of humour.

“I took part in this fancy dress competition with the aim of providing light-hearted entertainment for those in attendance,” Rose said. “If my costume/s offended anyone I am truly sorry as this was never my intention. I would like to apologise to anyone that I offended.”

“In hindsight, I should have re-thought what I did but, at the time, I thought it was just a bit of fun.”

He later told the Sydney Morning Herald: “With a bit of luck this will all be a bit of a laugh in a few days and we can all move on. I wore a costume which you could see at a theme park or a beach. Potentially no-one has done it on (a) horse, but there you go.”