Four-time world motocross champion Courtney Duncan will miss the opening round of the 2025 season in Sardinia this weekend after being hospitalised with a heart condition.

The Dunedin-based rider says eight weeks ago, she awoke with severe chest pain and was later diagnosed with pericarditis - swelling and irritation of the thin, saclike tissue surrounding the heart. The 29-year-old says she’s still struggling to regain full fitness.

After discussions with her medical team, she’s opted to withdraw from the first round of the world championship and potentially the first part of the season. She’s also been cleared of any long-term or permanent damage to her heart.

Courtney Duncan: About six to eight weeks ago, I got really sick. Just out of nowhere it came on and I had severe chest pains, shortness of breath, dizzy and I ended up in hospital. At first nobody could work out what was going on and I was in and out of hospital, four or five times. I got referred through the cardiologist and went through for further tests and scans and MRI’s and all that carry on. Have since been diagnosed with pericarditis, which is an inflammation of the lining of the heart. So pretty serious, when the heart is involved. So, the past eight weeks has been tough, unable to do any exercise and the last weeks been doing so low intensity but struggling to get through that at the moment. It has been tough, and you realize how important your health is. The good news is there is no long-term damage, and I will get back to 100%. The downside to that is, we don’t know how long that will take. It can take longer for some and shorter for others. It is opposite to an injury, where you work hard to come back, this one is the opposite, where you have to do less to get better. That is pretty much how it goes, and we have decided and safest to withdraw from the opening round and the first half of the season and that is pretty hard to accept.