The biggest controversy in equestrian has been resolved.
After Australian Olympian Shane Rose created a stir over his attire, the sport’s governing body in the country has revealed that they won’t be suspending the two-time silver medal winner.
Any form of suspension could have severely impacted his hopes of making a fourth Olympic appearance later this year in Paris.
Rose had been sidelined after he wore a “Borat” styled mankini during a showjumping fancy dress event at the Wallaby Hill Extravaganza and later apologized after Equestrian Australia and Sports Integrity Australia launched reviews of his attire.
“Having now thoroughly reviewed the incident and spoken to relevant parties, Equestrian Australia has confirmed that there was no breach of the code of conduct by Shane Rose,” Equestrian Australian CEO Darren Gocher said in a statement.
“Shane has reflected on the incident, has apologized and understands the high standards expected of everyone involved in our High Performance program. With the matter now resolved, Shane and his teammates are now looking forward to continuing to focus their attention on qualifying for Paris.”
Rose captured two silver medals during the 2008 and 2020 Olympics, respectively, and took home bronze in 2016.
It won’t be until June that the Olympic team will be selected.
Rose expressed gratitude for the support since the incident occurred earlier this month during a statement of his own released on Monday.
“I’m pleased that the Equestrian Australian review has been completed and I have been reinstated and allowed to continue my campaign towards the Paris Olympics Games,” he said. “The support and interest in this story has been like nothing I have experienced before. Now it is time to focus on the job ahead and try to get Australian Equestrian in the media for a more positive reason, an Olympic Gold Medal. Thanks again the support has been huge and much appreciated.”
While the absurd controversy had created quite a stir and momentarily jeopardized Rose’s Olympic aspirations, some good has come out of it.
Agriculture machinery supplier Bowral Kubota has offered to donate a mankini to all attendees at next year’s event and give 100 Australian dollars to support men’s health for anyone that “tries to outdo Shane,” CNN reported.