Territorian Matt King selected to represent Australia at MTB World Champs

What should have been the happiest day of his life - being selected in an Australian cycling team - saw this brave father-of-three suffer depression and anxiety. He reveals why as he prepares to don the green and gold.

Territorian Matt King has been selected to represent Australia at the 2025 MTB Marathon World Championships in Switzerland this September.

It was supposed to be one of the proudest days of his cycling career, but a shock selection into the Australian team a year ahead of schedule sent cyclist Matt King into a spiral.

King, 36, is a celebrated Territory cyclist who this year relaunched his journey into the national team selections, having previously donned the green and gold more than a decade ago.

The father of three and business owner initially had his sights on 2026 selection but with his data exceeding expectations and a win at the Convict 100 in Sydney he found himself an outside chance.

It followed strong results in Adelaide and at the Otway Odyssey, which forced selectors to pick him to represent Australia at the MTB Marathon World Championships in Switzerland this September.

However, when told of his selection the man who grew up in Katherine and honed his craft in Darwin was overcome with anxiety and depression.

“We thought we were an outside chance so we went through the steps and then it came and literally took my breath away,” he said.

“This wasn’t on the cards, we were still meant to be building with the aim of 2026, so it was unexpected and the massive amount of pressure that comes with it swept over me.

Territorian Matt King has been selected to represent Australia at the 2025 MTB Marathon World Championships in Switzerland this September.

“I had been off the bike for a bit because I had come down with influenza A, not been able to train and then the most amazing news came and I got shafted sideways with depression and anxiety.

“I wasn’t able to cope and tuned my phone off. I took a step back and reached out to a psychologist and told the community through my support that I’m not okay and needed to take some time.

“It’s just part of life and it hit me when I got good news, it was just this pressure that got to me, I’ve got help and the early intervention and community support got me going again.”

For King, the Top End community was critical in not only getting him to where he is and how he’s performed on the bike but also through his mental health battles.

And now they’re helping him again on the path to Switzerland, which will be a completely self-funded venture with Darwin Cycling Club chair Julian Barry setting up a GoFundMe.

“For me the Darwin clubs have been nothing short of amazing, we’ve got this community up here unlike anywhere in Australia, that’s just so supportive,” King said.

“The clubs are so proactive with races, we have high calibre riders such as Phillip Brownscomb and Mark Lackenby going to the Gran Fondo World Champs, and without all that I wouldn’t be at this level.

“The southerners come up here and think they have an easy trot and then our guys blow them out of the water, the community is amazing and we all push each other.

“And their support with this fundraiser just allowed me to reflect that I’ve been part of this club for 20-30 years and it’s phenomenal on their part how much they’ve supported me.”

Now, it’s on to Switzerland in September with King’s training regime including 30 hours of riding each week and the recovery side as well until he flies out on August 28.

Territorian Matt King has been selected to represent Australia at the 2025 MTB Marathon World Championships in Switzerland this September.

He will have just over a week to acclimatise before taking on the best in the world in a 125km race that starts 1500m above sea level and has 5000m of elevation.

But if his data improvements this year so far are anything to go by he’s excited for the challenge of what heading to Europe will bring.

“It’s going to be a huge challenge but it’s something I’m looking forward to and it’s going to be phenomenal to pull on the Australian colours again,” King said.

“It’s surreal, this year was a long shot and mainly preparation with a goal of getting selected in 2026.

“It was about giving it a crack so I could get familiar with it and throw my hat in the ring but knowing full well that the calibre of the elite scene is impressive and I’ve been out for more than a decade.

“But as we went along we kept hitting milestones ahead of where we were wanting to be, and the result in Adelaide after just six weeks of preparation made us realise we’re on the right track.

“We saw amazing jumps in data that I was producing, there were some watts where I was actually stopping and would recalibrate the power metre because we weren’t trusting what it said.”

Originally published as Territorian Matt King selected to represent Australia at MTB World Champs