Sponsor pledges ‘mankinis’ after Olympian stood down
FILE PHOTO: Shane Rose of Australia on his horse Virgil competes. REUTERS/Molly Darlington/File photo
SYDNEY—The sponsor of an equestrian event in Australia has promised to give every spectator a “mankini” next year after three-time Olympic medalist Shane Rose was stood down from competition for wearing the revealing garment earlier this month.
The 50-year-old, who hopes to represent Australia at this year’s Paris Olympics, wore the g-string inspired by the comedy film “Borat” at an unofficial fancy dress show-jumping event at Wallaby Hill in the Southern Highlands south of Sydney.
Equestrian Australia made the decision to stand down Rose, a silver medalist at the Beijing and Tokyo Olympics and winner of a bronze in Rio, while they conducted a review of the incident after complaints about the team eventer’s risque attire.
Rose, who was inundated with support from Australia’s equestrian community, initially posted an apology on his Facebook page but later replaced it with the following message:
“It is not my intention to have this issue escalated any more so my previous post has been removed.”
Sponsors Bowral Kubota, an agriculture equipment dealership, on Monday 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 humor, 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 ($65.35) for each spectator who has a sense of humor and tries to outdo Shane,” it added. —REUTERS
