Olympic Silver Medalist And WSL Finalist Tatiana Weston-Webb Announces Break From Championship Tour
“It feels like I’m breaking up with the only version of myself that I know.”
Today, Olympic Silver Medalist and WSL veteran Tatiana Weston-Webb took to Instagram to announce her short-term departure from the Championship Tour.
Per @tatiwest:
“I came today to discuss something with you guys that has been on my mind for a while and it’s a pretty important decision in my life during a hard time. After two Olympic cycles and 10 years competing on the CT without missing an event, last year was amazing. I finished third in the world, got an Olympic silver medal, but recently after that I started feeling a lot of emotional and physical burnout. I’ve been sharing all of these emotions with them personally and privately. As an athlete who strives for perfection, who strives for the best version of themselves, who strives to continue to push the levels higher and higher year after year, there’s a moment where it really feels like you just kind of need a break.
“Even though I love what I’m doing and I love competing. My relationship with competition right now is just becoming a little bit unhealthy at the moment. In consultation with my psychologist, we identified that if we continued to compete it would lead to burnout. My team and I had to make a decision, which was not easy. It was really hard for me because it feels like I’m almost breaking up with the only version of myself that I know. We made a decision to step away from the CT for the rest of the year. I think this will be a really good thing because it’s not the end, it’s the beginning of the next chapter for me, and I know that I will come back stronger and more fired up than ever.”
The announcement comes on the heels of a string of uncharacteristic poor results from Tati — as the Brazilian sits in dead last on the women’s rankings.
The tone is a familiar one, echoing sentiments heard in 2x World Champion Filipe Toledo’s sabbatical announcement in 2024.
Reportedly, Tati will be replaced by individual CT wildcards through the pre-cut events. Her husband Jesse Mendes will remain on as a WSL commentator through El Salvador (starting April 2), but beyond that is unknown.
Currently on an extended sabbatical, 8x world champ Steph Gilmore has already guaranteed herself a wildcard for 2026. Johanne Defay is also taking time off this year in order to have her first child. The remaining 2026 Season Wildcard will be allocated in May — whether it goes to Tati, Johanne, or someone else entirely remains to be seen.
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