Sponsor promises mankinis for all as Olympic hopeful Shane Rose cleared after wearing ‘Borat’ garment

The sponsor of an equestrian event in Australia has promised to give every spectator a “mankini” next year after three-times Olympic medallist Shane Rose was stood down from competition for wearing the revealing garment earlier this month.

Rose was cleared to resume his quest for a spot at the Paris Olympics on Monday after Equestrian Australia (EA) said the 50-year-old team eventer had not breached their code of conduct by wearing the G-string inspired by the comedy film “Borat”.

“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, a silver medallist at the Beijing and Tokyo Olympics and winner of a bronze in Rio, had worn the risque attire at an unofficial fancy dress show-jumping event at Wallaby Hill in the Southern Highlands south of Sydney on February 11.

Gocher said EA had been obliged to look into the incident as there had been a complaint “from the community” and said the review panel had recommended minimum dress standards for future events and a review of the “education models” for athletes.

Rose, who said he had no intention of offending anyone, received a huge amount of support from the equestrian community on his Facebook page with many applauding his sense of humour.

Sponsors Bowral Kubota, an agriculture equipment dealership, posted a picture of Rose in the offending costume and said it would be making an unusual donation for the 2025 event.

“Next year at the Wallaby Hill Extravaganza, to embrace Shane’s sense of humour, we will be donating a MANKINI to all spectators,” the company said on its Facebook page.

“And to support Men’s Health, we will be donating A$100 (€60) for each spectator who has a sense of humour and tries to outdo Shane.”

Get ahead of the day with the morning headlines at 7.30am and Fionnán Sheahan’s exclusive take on the day’s news every afternoon, with our free daily newsletter.