Jess Blewitt: New Zealand MTB star – career portait

redbull.com:

Despite being just 21 years old, New Zealand’s has already packed a lot into her short career. Entering the downhill mountain bike scene in 2019, she's had her career put on hold due to a global pandemic and two nasty crashes, including one at Red Bull Hardline in 2022. She’s also been able to capture the attention of judges everywhere from the Enduro World Series to the Crankworx World Tour, where she won her first gold medal in the downhill event in 2023.Injury-free and back on top form, she’s determined to push the sport and her own limits as far as they’ll go.

Here’s her story.Like most people who grow up to be athletic badasses, Blewitt – originally from Mount Manganui on New Zealand’s North Island – was super sporty from the get-go. “I tried every sport growing up and was really good at a few of them, although I never followed through with most of them,” she says.Given that, it’s ironic that bikes weren’t a huge part of her childhood. Barring cycling to and from school, for much of her youth, she was focused on ski racing.

“I started skiing when I was two, between my parents’ legs,” she laughs. “I did my first race aged eight, in Canada. I don’t remember how it went, but after that, I started ski racing.” Back home, Blewitt took an intro program with the Queenstown Alpine Ski Team at the nearby Coronet Peak.

After spending the next few years excelling in giant slalom and Super G events, she says she “got to the point where I didn't really see myself going any further". Soon after, she decided to only ski for fun – today she misses it, but says she hasn’t skied since before 2020. There was plenty to keep her busy: at various points, she was also into dancing – specialising in jazz and a bit of contemporary – as well