Australian showjumper Shane Rose avoids punishment for competing in g-string 'mankini'
Three-time Olympic equestrian medalist Shane Rose decided to have a little fun − at his own expense − during a costumed showjumping event earlier this month in his native Australia. That decision could have potentially put his plans to compete in the Paris Olympics this summer in jeopardy.
Rose was temporarily barred from competing and placed under investigation by Australia's governing equestrian body for wearing a G-string "mankini" at the event in New South Wales.
Rose, who won silver medals in the 2008 and 2020 Olympics, and bronze in 2016, wore three different costumes at the Wallaby Hill Extravaganza on Feb. 11. Among them: a gorilla suit and a Duffman beer costume from the Simpsons TV show.
But the other one − a mankini popularized by the 2006 movie "Borat" − was what got him in hot water.
"It’s a dress-up competition, and I thought it’d be funny to go in a mankini," Rose said in an interview, according to the New York Times. "That’s what I was intending − just to have a laugh."
Officials with Equestrian Australia didn't find it so humorous, noting Rose was bound by the organization's code of conduct.
After a complaint following the event led to an investigation, the governing body on Monday cleared Rose of any wrongdoing.
Rose posted, and then deleted, an apology to Facebook, the Times reports. Equestrian Australia said in its statement on Monday said the apology, and the fact that the event was not a professional competition factored into its ultimate decision not to levy any official punishment.