Maxwell began mountain biking as an eight-year-old, inspired by her father, who also got her brother riding. She mainly competes in cross-country, but also races
cyclo-cross and on the road. At the
2019 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in
Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada, Maxwell came 14th in the junior cross-country race. At the August
2023 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships held in Scotland's
Glentress Forest, Maxwell beat the two Swiss riders who had been seen as pre-race favourites:
Ginia Caluori and
Ronja Blöchlinger. In the world championship race, she held a lead from the beginning. She is the first New Zealander to win the U23 world title. Maxwell was not selected by
Cycling New Zealand for the
2024 Summer Olympics. She took a case against the sporting body with the
Sports Tribunal of New Zealand, who ruled that Cycling New Zealand "is taking a discriminatory attitude towards athletes who have eating disorders". The tribunal further found that the sporting body had made its decision based on inaccurate and outdated medical information that had not been shared with Maxwell, who therefore had no ability to have the information corrected. As the tribunal's decision was made on 15 July 2024, they said there was insufficient time to refer the case back to Cycling New Zealand, and ruled for Maxwell to be nominated for the
Olympic women's cross-country event. At the Paris Olympics Maxwell finished eighth. At the Araxa leg of the UCI World cup Maxwell placed second in the short track event and first in the Cross Country Olympic, becoming the first New Zealand woman to win a World Cup event. ==Major results==