Maja Stage-Nielsen
Trust the process. It’s a popular mantra, particularly in performance sport, that means letting go and having faith that things will eventually all fall into place. Learning to embrace the process is something HOKA triathlete Maja Stage-Nielsen took from her first sporting love, golf. A passionate golfer, who dreamt of becoming a professional growing up and names Tiger Woods as one of her heroes, Maja now takes the learnings from that sport into her professional triathlon career. And while golf and triathlon may not appear to be close bedfellows, for Maja, the skill, patience, and process involved in each make them more similar than you might think. ”Playing golf I learned to love the process,” says the 33-year-old from Elsinore, Denmark. ”It’s the same passion and eagerness for development that now drives me in triathlon.”
This passion and eagerness has seen Maja develop into one of the leading women long-distance triathletes in the world. Many athletes have had to put their dreams on hold over the last couple of years. Maja, who joined the HOKA family in autumn 2021, is no exception. While ”fulfiling my potential” remains her number one objective, Maja dreams of battling it out with the best athletes in the world, including in Kona at the IRONMAN World Championships this October. ”I like goals that are process based,” says Maja, who also works as a physiotherapist. ”Goals that I can use to measure my development and that give me the drive and motivation to work hard. I have dreams too. Some goals started as a dream, and as time goes by and that dream starts to get more realistic, it becomes a goal. By then, there is already a new dream out there to chase anyway.”
"Some goals started as a dream, and as time goes by and that dream starts to get more realistic, it becomes a goal."
After finishing 12th on her debut in Kona in 2017 and achieving subsequent 15th and 11th place finishes since, her dream isn’t too far from becoming a reality. For Maja, performance goes hand in hand with the process, and part of that is being able to find balance in her life. Maja loves to take on home DIY projects and explores her creative side through baking. Friends and family are important – her sister is an ”inspiration” and her mother ”my biggest fan”. She watches Netflix box sets and lists Grey’s Anatomy as a particular favourite. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Maja also loves to engage with the beautiful nature both on her doorstep in Denmark and her ”second home” of Lanzarote.
"Having the freedom to choose a shoe that is suited for the session gives me confidence and makes me believe in the process.”
