An Olympic equestrian may have jeopardized his spot at the 2024 Paris Games after he wore a Borat-like “mankini” during a recent event.
Shane Rose, a three-time Olympic medalist for Australia, has been sidelined by Equestrian Australia for wearing the outfit during a showjumping fancy dress event at the Wallaby Hill Extravaganza last Sunday.
Rose, 50, posted a photo of himself in the attire on Instagram along with him in a gorilla suit and a beer costume.
He later apologized as he faces a review from Equestrian Australia, the country’s governing body for equestrian, and Sports Integrity Australia.
Darren Gocher, chief executive of Equestrian Australia, told the Sydney Morning Herald that complaints were made over Rose’s outfit, along with the fact minors were in attendance.
“There were concerns raised about it. Whether it is one [complaint] or 1,000, we have an obligation to review it,” Gocher told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“We received a letter with concerns and it was also sent to Sports Integrity Australia and the ASC (Australian Sports Commission) and we have an obligation under our code of conduct to review, if that happens.
“He hasn’t been sanctioned, he hasn’t been suspended. He has been stood down from competition while we review and we have committed to getting the review done this week.”
Rose captured silver at the 2008 and 2020 Olympics in Beijing and Tokyo, respectively, and bronze at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, all in team eventing.
The selections for the Olympic team will be revealed in June.
A suspension would seemingly hurt Rose’s chances of competing at another Olympics. Equestrian Australia will begin reviewing the incident Monday, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
“My phone went nuts [after the event] with people laughing and things. But I have been told there was one lady, and I think the words were she showed concern, not a formal complaint,” Rose told the 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.
“I think I am a good person and I do a lot for the sport, and for people in different situations. I don’t feel like I have done anything particularly bad. In hindsight, I should have re-thought what I did but at the time I thought it was just a bit of fun. Hopefully in a couple of days we can all move on and it will be behind us.”
Rose initially apologized “to anyone that I offended” in a Facebook post that has since been deleted, noting in a different post on Saturday that he removed it because “It is not my intention to have this issue escalated any more.”
