'Do you want to know the truth?': Chris Burton claims silver for Australia, but left half a million in the red

Three years after he was cruelly denied a chance to compete in Tokyo, Chris Burton has won Australia's third silver medal of Paris 2024 thanks to a flawless final jumping ride in the individual equestrian eventing at Chateau de Versailles – although the podium didn't come cheap.

Coming into the final leg of the competition with the second-best score, Burton needed an error-free run on Shadow Man to guarantee himself silver, and the pair delivered.

German Michael Jung took gold, having also avoided any penalties in his final effort.

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Burton said he was "over the moon" with the silver, and paid tribute to Jung.

"We've just had everything go right for us this week," he said.

"And we did everything we can, you know? So we're going to sleep well tonight.

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"We were second. We sort of hoped we might have had the gold there, but it wasn't our day.

"Well done Mickey. He's one of the greatest of all time, there's no question. Tough competition. And I'm delighted."

It's a superb change of fortune for Burton, who had been set to compete in Tokyo only for an injury to horse Quality Purdey to end that Olympic campaign before it had even started.

He made a career shift in 2021 to focus on showjumping, before a late decision just months ago to take the ride on Shadow Man for eventing in Paris.

"It's amazing," Burton said.

"It's a dream come true... what a treat.

"He (Shadow Man) is a really special animal. I'm just blessed to be able to ride such a horse, you know? And I can't believe I've had this chance."

Not that the chance came cheap.

Speaking to Nine after claiming silver, Burton revealed he and wife Rebekah borrowed heavily to get his hands on Shadow Man from British rider Ben Hobday, who "wanted a lot of money".

"Do you want to know the truth? We actually borrowed," he said.

"My sponsor put up some money towards it... and, we've actually borrowed a heap of it.

"So if anyone out there has got about half a million Aussie bucks, I'd appreciate it."

Pressed on how much the ride cost in total, Burton said the figure was so high it was "too embarrassing", and that he didn't initially have much support for the idea.

"What my wife and I did was pretty extraordinary, if we're honest," he said.

"I'd been out of the sport for a few years. I was in show jumping and I walked in one day and I said, 'there's a really nice horse I've always liked. How do you feel about going eventing again?'

"And she said 'no, we're not doing that'."

Despite the financial cost, there certainly seem to be no regrets about getting the ride on the "priceless" Shadow Man.

"The story is unbelievable," Burton said.

"I still can't believe we pulled it off, but the horse, I don't know, I feel like he and I were made for each other – but I think that that horse is so lovely he'd do the same to anyone.

"But I thoroughly enjoyed it."