Chris Burton has grabbed an unexpected individual eventing silver for Australia at Chateau de Versailles – on a loaned horse he has only been riding for five months.

The 42-year-old Queenslander had ditched show jumping for another shot at eventing this year, and his switch paid off handsomely as he steered his brilliant new partner Shadow Man to second place on Monday.

Burton, now based in Britain, was lying third overnight after the dressage and cross country sections but moved into the silver-medal position after Monday morning’s qualifying round.

Then on a blazingly hot afternoon against the majestic backdrop of the chateau, Burton and Shadow Man had no fences down again in the finale to put the pressure on the last rider to go, three-time Olympic champion Michael Jung.

Burton was in sight of earning Australia’s first individual eventing triumph since Matt Ryan piloted Kibah Tic Toc to victory in Barcelona 1992.

But the 41-year-old German great Jung, on Chipmunk FRH, thrived under the ultimate pressure, going clear over the 12-fence course himself inside the 60-second time limit to win on 21.80 penalty points, just 0.60 clear of Burton.

Burton and Shadow Man only had their first competition together in March, when British owner Ben Hobday – believing he had no realistic chance of making the Olympics himself amid huge competition in the UK – loaned the horse for six months to his Australian friend.

The Opals were turned over by Nigeria in a Olympic basketball upset that leaves Australia’s medal campaign on the brink. The No 3-ranked Australians were beaten 75-62 by the African champions in Lille, with Sandy Brondello’s side turning the ball over 26 times and making just eight of 18 free throws in a nightmarish opening to their Games tilt.

World No 12 Nigeria made the most of it, firing away from long range and rushing Australia’s shaky offence to earn their greatest Olympic basketball win. It’s a major dent in Lauren Jackson’s (six points, two rebounds in 12 minutes) plans for a fifth medal in as many Games, the 43-year-old back on the Olympic stage for the first time since London’s 2012 edition.

They will play world No 5 Canada on Thursday and No 7 France on Sunday, with only the pool’s top two sides guaranteed a berth in Paris’s quarter-final stage.

The Australian team of Cassiel Rousseau and Domonic Bedggood finished sixth in the 10m men’s synchronised diving, won by China’s Lian Junjie and Yang Hao, with Great Britain flag bearer Tom Daley and Noah Williams in second.

“I’m really happy with our performance – coming into this competition, Cass and myself were the underdog team and it’s amazing teams we were up against,” Bedggood said. “We put down five out of six great dives, we’re happy with that. Little mistakes, that happens in sport.”

Shane O’Neill has finished last in his street skateboarding heat, putting the Australian out of medal contention. The 34-year-old scored 107.50 in qualifying and he was ranked 10th after the second of four heats, with only the top eight progressing to the final round.

O’Neill only managed a score of 16.50 from his two runs during heat one and that cruelled his chances. He managed 91.00 on one of his five tricks, but that was all he landed in that section of the six-skater heat.

O’Neill has a massive online following and he had plenty of crowd support at the Olympic skate park. His early elimination comes a day after 14-year-old compatriot Chloe Covell finished an emotional eighth in the women’s street final.