Throwback Thursday: Greg Minnaar's 11 World Championships Medals

If there was ever any debate, Greg Minnaar might just have confirmed his GOAT status in the eyes of most race fans this weekend when he won his fourth World Championships to go alongside his 22 World Cup wins and 3 World Cup overall titles.

Minnaar has now been at the top of the sport for more than two decades and has shown peerless longevity in his racing career. Here is a run down of every one of Minnaar's World Champs medals in 20 years of racing.

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2001: Vail, USA - Bronze


Greg Minnaar's first World Championships medal almost exactly 20 years ago in Vail, Colorado. This was only Minnaar's second Elite World Championships race, but he came into it as one of the favourites after having clinched the overall title by just 12 points at the final round in Mont-Sainte-Anne. Minnaar ended the race third behind, of course, Nico Vouilloz, who was racing in his penultimate Championships.

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2003: Lugano, Switzerland - Gold


Minnaar wouldn't have to wait long to convert his bronze to gold as he clinched his first Rainbow jersey on the slopes on Monte Tamaro just two years later. Greg overturned the unlucky 13 plate and took the win by just under a second from Mickael Pascal while Fabien Barel recovered from separating his shoulder 12 weeks earlier to take third.

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2004: Les Gets, France - Silver



The 2004 World Championships will always be remembered for the epic battle between Fabien Barel and Steve Peat but the closest challenger to the flying Frenchman was actually Minnaar who finished just over half a second back from Barel.

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2005: Livigno, Italy - Bronze


Greg Minnaar dominated in 2005 with 3 World Cup wins on the Honda Global Racing team and a lead of more than 700 points by the end of the season. On World Champs day though, it was Barel once again who pipped him to gold.

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2006: Rotorua, New Zealand - Silver


The first of three medals Minnaar won in the southern hemisphere came at Rotorua in 2006. That day was dominated by Sam Hill who finished 4 seconds clear.

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2009: Canberra, Australia - Silver


Steve Peat's long-awaited Rainbow Stripes finally came at Canberra in 2009, but it was nearly a very different story. Riding semi-slick tyres front and rear, Peaty's Syndicate teammate trailed him by just 0.05 seconds.

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2010: Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada - Bronze



Greg Minnaar came into the 2010 World Championships following a season-long battle with Gee Atherton for the World Cup overall. There's no doubt he was one of the fastest racers of the weekend as he topped the seeding session, but weather affected the final few riders and he had to settle for bronze.

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2012: Leogang, Austria - Gold


Minnaar ended a 9-year wait for the Rainbow Stripes in 2012 when he took the win in Leogang. Minnaar had been the only real challenger to Aaron Gwin's dominant period between 2011 and 2012 and it came down to the pair again at the World Championships. Minnaar went into the hot seat and then knew his victory was assured after a tech issue for Gwin who acknowledge defeat with a legendary bar hump.

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2013: Pietermaritzberg, South Africa - Gold


Minnaar became only the fourth male downhill rider ever to claim Elite World Championships back to back as he extended his reign on home soil in Pietermaritzburg. 2013 was the year that some riders tried enduro bikes and even 29ers for the first time, but Minnaar stuck with his tried and true V10 to power his way to glory.

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2015: Vallnord, Andorra - Silver


Two years later and Minnaar was in the medals again, this time he had to settle for silver as Loic Bruni claimed his first of four World Championships in the next five years.

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2021:Val di Sole, Italy - Gold

At 39 years old, Minnaar added a fourth World Championships title to his collection. At this point, he's simply peerless.