‘My injury is irrelevant’: Aussie star recovers from 19 fractures and a month in a wheelchair to contest Olympics

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Published In Features
Olympic eventing dressage: Shane Rose and Virgil
(Image credit: Peter Nixon)

Just four months ago, Australian event rider Shane Rose was lying in intensive care following a fall in training, with 19 fractures to the pelvis, femur, elbow and ribs plus severe concussion. After surgeries and an intensive rehab programme, including time in a wheelchair, Shane Rose has kicked off his tilt at the Paris Olympics with a 34.6 score in the first phase. But for Shane, this career-threatening injury and remarkable comeback are firmly in the past.

“I’m not thinking of the journey I’ve been on,” says Shane. “I’m here to produce a performance at the Games. The fact that I was injured is irrelevant. My job is to do the best job I can for the team and I feel like I’m in a good position to do that. I feel as strong as I need to be – stronger than I’ve probably ever been as I’ve done a lot of rehab.”

Martha Terry
Martha Terry
Features editor

Martha is an experienced journalist who is mad-keen on horses and dogs. Her reporting CV includes the Paris Olympics, European championships, Aachen World Equestrian Festival and World Cup finals. After growing up with assorted liver and white springer spaniels, she enjoyed 14 years with two rescue dogs. Now, her constant companion is Fidget, an extremely energetic and habitually muddy black and white springer. Martha has written on topics as diverse as a top horse’s clone to the best GPS trackers for dogs, as well as equestrian and rural matters for Country Life, The Field, The Times, The Spectator and The Telegraph alongside Horse & Hound.