Photography: Andra Krista Photography.
When Kiwi motocross champion Courtney Duncan started experiencing shortness of breath, she brushed it off as a return of her childhood asthma. But what she thought was a minor setback turned out to be a serious heart condition – one that not only forced her off the track for more than a year but left her barely able to leave her home for months.
“It’s tough to wake up and not have that goal you’re striving towards,” says Courtney.
“I still have a goal, which is to be healthy.”
After finishing a disappointing fifth in the 2024 season, the four-time Women’s World Motocross champion was intent on reclaiming her title. In January last year, while enjoying time in New Zealand before returning to Europe to race, she began experiencing intense chest pains. She also found herself struggling to catch her breath.
“It was really scary,” she recalls.
“I went to hospital, but they couldn’t diagnose me with anything. They said nothing was wrong, but as I was struggling to breathe, I knew something definitely wasn’t right.”
A sudden health scare
Over the following weeks, she was in and out of the hospital searching for answers. With two months until the season officially started, Courtney remained hopeful she’d be in the line-up. But when she was referred to a cardiologist in her hometown of Dunedin, her hopes of racing were shattered when she was diagnosed with pericarditis – inflammation of the sac surrounding the heart.
Though she has no signs of permanent heart damage, the only way to treat the problem is rest.
“The cardiologist told me he’s seen cases take six months to a year to come right,” Courtney says.
“I thought, ‘Nah, I’ll be back to it in a few months.’ But he was right. It took me a long time to accept I wasn’t going to be on the starting line.”
The long road to acceptance
For the first few months, she was housebound and with such little energy, she barely saw her friends and family.
Courtney explains, “I’m always on the road or training and I’ve always loved that aspect of the sport – the hard work and the grind when things get hard. Having to stop and be housebound was tough.”
A lifelong passion for cycling
Though she is no stranger to dealing with injuries, having torn her ACL multiple times, the nine months she was off the bike is the longest she has ever gone without riding since she fell in love with the
sport at the age of seven.
When she was 12, she had her first taste of international competition at the junior world championships. The same year, Kiwi rider Katherine Prumm took home the world title. In that moment, Courtney saw her future unfold before her.
“I loved it from day one,” the 30-year-old enthuses.
“I wanted to race every weekend. Seeing Katherine doing really well gave me the aspiration to do the same thing. Ever since then, I’ve wanted to be a world champion.”
Chasing a world title
Courtney turned pro at 20 and won her very first race. She thought a world title would follow not long after, but it was a long four years’ wait before she finally claimed the cup. She admits it took her a while to learn an important lesson. The mental game is just as crucial as the physical when striving to be a champion.
She admits, “It was a lot harder than I expected, moving to Europe, learning the culture and living away from family. You’re growing up, learning how to manage a championship and control your emotions.”
But once she started, Courtney was unstoppable. She won her first world championship in 2019 and claimed back-to-back titles in the following two years. She missed out in 2022 but was back on top in 2023.
A comeback with perspective
After making her return to racing this month, Courtney is determined to compete at this year’s Women’s Motocross Championship in late April. She’s willing to fund her campaign herself if necessary. But this time, she’ll be listening carefully to her body.
“It’s given me perspective on how you take your health for granted and how quickly things can change,” she shares.
“I’m lucky to wake up every day with the motivation to go out and chase goals because I’m doing what I love. You don’t realise that until it gets taken from you. “I think I’ll come out of this a lot smarter in terms of not burning my body to the ground, and being mindful of rest and recovery.”
