Following x-rays, Greg Minnaar discovered that he rode the remaining two minutes and 40 seconds of the World Championship downhill final last weekend in Fort William, Scotland, with a broken and dislocated shoulder. Despite losing time in the crash and riding the second portion of the race injured, Minnaar, who qualified fastest, only missed the podium, finishing fourth by a few seconds.
"My fault I crashed. My shoulder is hurting a lot so I'm off to hospital now," said Minnaar soon after his crash. "I know I came here with enough to win and I feel that had things been a little different, there was a medal with my name on it, but I crossed it up in the woods and came down heavy. Congratulations to the guys that finished ahead of me, they did a good job."
Minnaar's shoulder has been dislocated three times this year already - all anteriorly. This dislocation was a posterior one, more uncommon and very painful. His shoulder was put back in place this time three hours after the event while he was sedated. Minnaar also suffered a fracture of his scapula.
