Mankini to medallist? Eventer Rose on an uphill ride to Paris

PARIS/SYDNEY : As Shane Rose steered his horse over a fence once again - just two months after nearly breaking 20 bones in a training accident - the Australian sensed his bid to get back in shape in time for the Olympics was less far-fetched than some had thought.

"That was the final tick that I needed," the three-times Olympic medallist told Reuters in an interview. "When I could do that and could do it reasonably well on my first attempt, there was no chance that I was not going to be fit enough for Paris."

Rose, who grabbed global headlines when he sported an orange Borat-style 'mankini' costume during a riding event earlier this year, had been on track for Paris with his brown bay gelding Virgil when things came to a halt in mid March.

Only days after securing his ticket to Paris, the 51-year-old eventer fell from a horse during a cross-country schooling session. Rose underwent hours of surgery with a broken femur, pelvis, elbow and some broken ribs.

But he wasn't prepared to give up on his Olympic dream.

"The recovery was long and not necessarily painful, but painstaking," Rose said during an interview at Bimbadeen Park, an hour southwest of Sydney.

He needed to spend the first four weeks in bed before being gradually allowed to start exercising, first in a swimming pool, then in the gym.

In May, when doctors allowed him to stand on his own feet again, Rose was straight back on horseback. Having no memory of the accident helped him going back to work swiftly, he said.

"I have no anxiety at all... the fact that I can't remember is a blessing."

MANKINI

The first weeks after the accident, Rose said, were his longest time off horseback since he was a toddler as they were his means of transport to get around when he was