Saya Sakakibara won gold this morning in the women’s BMX racing, marking a historic moment for Australia in the sport and one of the most inspiring moments of the games so far.
She absolutely blitzed the field, coming in seconds ahead of her competitors.
Her rise to this moment is nothing short of amazing, as we reported yesterday as she was preparing to compete in the final.
Sakakibara has experienced multiple crashes and challenges in the sport, including one such challenge came just this week as post race today that she revealed she’d been sick.
But it’s the family story — as well as the friendship she shares with the other riders including her boyfriend Romain Mahieu, who won a bronze medal in the men’s event just minutes before she raced — that shows her character, loyalty and resilience.
Sakakibara wears the number 77 on her back as she races in honour of her biggest supporter, her older brother Kai. The siblings grew up together and went on to live, train and race together, with Saya following the footsteps of her brother’s love for BMX since the age of three. The two were both considered strong prospects for the Tokyo Olympics, but Kai suffered a catastrophic fall in the opening heat of a BMX World Cup event in 2020.
He spent two months in a medical-induced coma. The family feared the worst, but Kai pulled through on was in the stands this morning to watch and cheer on his sister.
Saya suffered a massive crash of her own in the semi-finals of the Tokyo Olympics. She had to be carried off the race course, unconscious in a stretcher.
She recovered but was left with prolonged concussion symptoms and came close to quitting the sport.
Saya decided to take another shot at competing in another Olympics. In Paris this morning, she received the ultimate payoff: a gold medal.
Her boyfriend, the French bronze medalist Romain Mahieu, told Nine after Saya’s win and just moments before he was to take the podium himself, just how proud he was to watch her.
“I don’t know what to say, I knew she could do it,” he said.
“She has been working so hard, I am just so proud of her. It is everything she deserves.
“She has been through everything… almost stopped racing and now she is showing how good she is.”