{"id":403291,"date":"2026-01-10T02:51:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T02:51:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/403291\/"},"modified":"2026-01-10T02:51:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T02:51:08","slug":"kiwi-mountain-bike-world-champion-samara-maxwell-to-take-year-off-competitive-sport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/403291\/","title":{"rendered":"Kiwi mountain bike world champion Samara Maxwell to take year off competitive sport"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cAfter an intense 2025 season,<\/a> and several months spent in Europe far from home and family, Samara Maxwell has decided to take a sabbatical break from competitive sport,\u201d the team announced on social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe New Zealand athlete will dedicate 2026 to a period of rest, recovery and personal reconnection. During this sabbatical pause, she will step away from racing, media activities, social platforms and public engagements. This choice will allow her to restore physical energy, regain mental balance and spend meaningful time with the people and places that matter most to her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maxwell said in the post: \u201cThis is the right moment for me to pause, breathe and return to my roots. I want to spend time with my family, recharge and prepare myself for the challenges ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Ford Decathlon Racing Team said Maxwell\u2019s long-term vision remains unchanged.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo return to competition with renewed determination and continue her journey toward representing New Zealand<\/a> at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.\u201d<\/p>\n

The press release said Maxwell\u2019s decision had been supported by her team, personal coach and the medical staff who have accompanied her throughout the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs well as by Cycling New Zealand and High Performance Sport NZ, all of whom recognise this step as essential to safeguarding her wellbeing and long-term athletic longevity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maxwell, who has openly battled with eating disorders since she was a teen, told RNZ last year her mental health was tested when she clinched the mountain bike cross country title in Canada.<\/p>\n

She said the pressure she had been under in the weeks leading to the final round meant she didn\u2019t manage her eating disorder well.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really proud that I\u2019m in a place where I can say I\u2019m struggling and could call my coach and call my psychologist,\u201d Maxwell told RNZ after winning the title.<\/p>\n

The world title punctuated how far Maxwell had come since she had to fight for selection to the Paris Olympics in 2024.<\/p>\n

Cycling NZ declined to nominate Maxwell for the Olympics for health, rather than performance, reasons.<\/p>\n

The national body determined she had failed to show she had no \u201cphysical or mental impairment\u201d that would prevent her from performing to the highest possible standard at the Olympics.<\/p>\n

The Sports Tribunal upheld Maxwell\u2019s appeal over her non-nomination and took the rare step of nominating her directly to the New Zealand Olympic Committee for selection.<\/p>\n

Maxwell went on to finish eighth in Paris, the best finish of her senior career.<\/p>\n

\u2013 RNZ<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cAfter an intense 2025 season, and several months spent in Europe far from home and family, Samara Maxwell…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":403292,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,3171,214106,8813,39914,784,8835,50516,35068,38072,214105,588,85,10965,319,214107,1720,1547],"class_list":["post-403291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bike","tag-bridget","tag-champion","tag-competitive","tag-cycling","tag-kiwi","tag-maxwell","tag-mountain","tag-off","tag-samara","tag-sport","tag-sports","tag-take","tag-to","tag-tunnicliffe","tag-world","tag-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=403291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403291\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/403292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=403291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=403291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=403291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}