VIDEO: Equestrian Shane Rose still hoping to go for gold despite horror fall

COMMENTATOR:  Shane Rose, last to jump. 

SHANE ROSE, EQUESTRIAN:  I think it is a great competition, I think it's lot of thrills and spills. 

COMMENTATOR:  Shane is really working. 

KELLY FULLER, REPORTER:  Shane Rose is one of Australia’s pre-eminent equestrians. He’s won two silver medals and a bronze at three Olympic games.

COMMENTATOR:  We are the bronze medallists. 

KELLY FULLER:  For Paris 2024, gold is in his sights.

SHANE ROSE: There is dangers in what we do but that is partly why we do it. 

COMMENTATOR:  Shane has been a team medallist on two occasions before for Australia. 

KELLY FULLER:  Former Olympic equestrian team manager, Gareth McKeen, has known Shane for nearly 30 years.

GARETH MCKEEN, FORMER OLYMPIC TEAM MANAGER:  In my opinion, Shane is second to none in Australian sport in terms of his courage, determination, humility, and his good humour, second to none.

KELLY FULLER:  Shane’s Paris 2024 Olympic campaign was almost derailed when he wore a neon orange mankini during a fancy-dress showjumping event in February.

MAN: That's Australian. 

SHANE ROSE: It's amazing how quickly things can get out of proportion or control. I think most people in the community know that I'm not, you know, trying to create a stir. I was just having a bit of fun. 

COMMENTATOR:  Well, he has only got to jump this fence to take the title. 

KELLY FULLER:  Shane apologised and was later cleared of any wrongdoing by Equestrian Australia.

COMMENTATOR:  So Shane Rose, he has done it. He has done it in style. 

KELLY FULLER:  And a few weeks later, he secured full qualification to be considered for the Olympics.

But then, disaster struck.

At a training camp, Shane was thrown from a horse called Bandit. The 625-kilogram animal landed on top of him in the fall.

SHANE ROSE: I can't remember anything until I got to the hospital and vaguely remember going into surgery.

KELLY FULLER:  Shane broke 11 bones in 19 different places. 

SHANE ROSE:   When are the games?

WOMAN: End of July. You’ve got four months, heaps of time.

SHANE ROSE: And I was on Bandit?

WOMAN: Yup. 

SHANE ROSE: He fell on me, that is not ideal. 

KELLY FULLER:  A broken femur, eight broken ribs, three breaks along his spine, three breaks in his elbow and four pelvis fractures. 

DR RICHARD WALKER, ORTHOPAEDIC SURGEON:  A pedestrian hit by a car 60 to 80 kilometres an hour, we would see these sort of injuries.

KELLY FULLER:  Dr Richard Walker is an orthopaedic surgeon.

RICHARD WALKER:  I said to him, most people that I've managed with horse riding injuries are not back on a horse for six months.

And he gave me the timeframe that he needed to be back on a horse, which was roughly, you know, at least give him two to three months before the Olympics.

I thought it was almost impossible. 

SHANE ROSE: The first week was pretty difficult. The most painful thing has been my pelvis by far, especially in that first two and a half weeks. 

KELLY FULLER:  Soon after his injury, Shane began an intensive rehabilitation program.

After four weeks, he was walking.

By week six, he was training at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra. 

SHANE ROSE: Not very exciting riding a bike. 

The advantage of being here on site is I get, I get three sessions a day. 

ROSS SMITH, TRAINER:  He's at that point of time now where the big challenge for him is the progressional load back onto a horse. 

SHANE ROSE: The first time I actually sat in the saddle, I was thinking to myself, "Oh, this isn't really good." But yeah, only a few minutes, sort of walking around, I started to feel pretty good, actually.

I'm really confident that I'm going to need to continue on that upwards sort of trajectory of, give the selectors the confidence to be able to pick me. 

GARETH MCKEEN:  His recovery doesn't surprise me at all, and I think there are a few footballers out there who think they're pretty tough. I think they should go and spend a day with Shane Rose.

RICHARD WALKER:  He's proven me wrong. 

KELLY FULLER:  Today, Shane Rose is on show. His first competition since the injury – it’s a chance to prove he’s fit enough to ride.

SHANE ROSE: I, if I go terribly today, that won't help Paris selection and stuff, but I'm pretty confident. He's a good jumper. 

We're ready to go. I'm fine. I'm looking forward to getting out and showing what I'm up to.

My dressage tales are very tight. I was a bit nervous I was not going to fit into them, but I haven’t got too fat. 

COMMENTATOR:  Entering the arena is three-time Olympic medallist, Shane Rose on Virgil.

KELLY FULLER:  While Shane’s secured full qualification for the Olympic squad, a successful ride today is crucial for him to be selected in the final team travelling to Paris.

COMMENTATOR:  Shane Rose on Virgil. 

SHANE ROSE: Good to be out there, a bit rusty, but no, he jumped super. Just one little error, he got too close to one. But no, it felt good in the saddle, it felt really good.

I'm only just starting my journey. The next, I think it is six weeks still to the games, so I’ve got plenty of time to sharpen up on that stuff. 

KELLY FULLER:  After a gruelling three-month recovery, next week Shane will finally find out if he is on the equestrian team.

SHANE ROSE: Hopefully will be up and around the medals.

KELLY FULLER:  Silver, bronze – one left?

SHANE ROSE: Yeah, a gold medal in Paris would be lovely.