Image: Ray Archer.

Four-time WMX world champion Courtney Duncan has been sidelined from the opening round of the 2025 Women’s Motocross World Championship (WMX) in Sardinia this week, forced to step away due to illness.

The highly-rated Kiwi was in preparation for the upcoming season eight weeks ago when she woke with severe chest pains and was rushed to the hospital.

Following weeks of uncertainty, Duncan was diagnosed with pericarditis — an inflammation of the thin sac surrounding the heart.

“The past eight weeks have been tough,” Duncan commented. “I was initially unable to do anything physically. Slowly, over the past few weeks, I’ve been trying to do a little bit of low-intensity exercise, but [I] am struggling to get through that at the moment. You realise how important your health is, that’s for sure.”

Fortunately, doctors have assured her there is no long-term or permanent damage to her heart, with a full recovery on the horizon.

“There’s nothing to say that it’s not curable and I will get back to 100 percent,” she explained. “The downfall is we don’t know how long that’s going to take. It’s all dependent on different people. It can take longer for some and shorter for others.”

No stranger to adversity, Duncan has battled through injuries in the past, but this recovery presents an entirely new challenge.

“It’s the opposite of having an injury where you work harder and make sure you come back stronger and ready to go,” she said. “This one is unpredictable – you have to do less to get better. The more you do, the worse the symptoms get, which prolongs the recovery, and we’ve found that out over the last few weeks.”

After discussions with her medical team, the decision was made to withdraw from the season-opener, with her return timeline unclear.

“It’s pretty tough to accept,” she admitted. “We’re even struggling to get through a 30-minute session at the moment with low resistance. Reality shows that I wouldn’t even be able to get there.”

Duncan was looking to add title number five to her resume in 2025, following a fifth-place finish in last year’s championship in her debut season with the F&H Racing team after concluding a five-year relationship with the Bike It Kawasaki Racing Team.