Australian BMX rider Saya Sakakibara won Australia’s 10th gold medal in emotional scenes on Saturday morning despite injuries and family trauma.
Sakakibara’s brother Kai suffered a traumatic brain injury while racing and Sakakibara suffered two serious concussions, nearly causing her to quit the sport.
During the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo, the Australian athlete suffered a serious concussion after colliding with another runner, ending her Olympic debut.
Kai, also a talented BMX racer, was ranked 10th in the world in February 2020, while his sister was in the top five.
That same month, Kai fell during a World Cup event and was placed in an induced coma for two months due to a traumatic brain injury.
This injury left him unable to speak or move properly on the right side of his body, forcing him to relearn essential life skills.
She wore her brother’s number 77 during the ride and dominated the rest, achieving an emotional victory.
Saya Sakakibara lets all her emotions run wild after leading the final from start to finish
An emotional Sakakibara wore her brother’s number and dedicated the victory to him after Kai Sakakibara suffered a life-changing brain trauma while riding
“I feel like it’s a dream, it’s real, right?” Sakakibara asked in disbelief.
‘I just saw the moment, I visualized myself standing on the podium, hearing the national anthem and having the gold medal around my neck. I saw that in my mind.’
‘Every setback I’ve had since the moment it was my turn, I thought I’d try again, I just had that in mind. I wanted it, I wanted it.
“I knew it was only a split second and I just had to go.”
Sakakibara said she noticed her brother in the crowd, which only increased her ambition to win coast to coast.
“I saw Kai. I knew I was going to end up in tears no matter what,” she said.
“I just want to make sure it’s a golden Olympic moment. Either way, it’s going to end in tears and I wanted to make sure it’s tears of joy.”
“She said so many times that she had to suppress the fear in her head when she came back from a concussion last year. The whole team, her coach, everyone believed so much in her performance,” said Australian two-time Olympian and former world champion Caroline Buchanan.
“She got back on the BMX board when everything told her she had a traumatic brain injury. She said, ‘I’m not going to let fear stop me,’ and now she’s an Olympic champion.”
Kai was there to witness the emotional victory his sister dedicated to him.
“I’m trembling,” he said.
“It’s crazy because three years ago she could have done it but she didn’t and now she’s doing it. It’s crazy. It’s really crazy.”
Shibasaki’s French friend Romain Mahieu was at the finish line to congratulate her when she burst into tears. He had won the bronze medal in his final earlier that day.
“I knew she could do it. She’s worked so hard, I’m just so proud of her. It’s everything she deserves,” he said.
“She’s been through it all, a tough time, almost quitting racing and now she’s showing how good she is. We need some time to let it sink in and understand what happened.”
Shibasaki’s French friend Romain Mahieu congratulates her at the finish
Sakakibara delivered an extraordinary performance of consistent brilliance, winning all three of her quarterfinals on Thursday and all three of her semifinals on Friday, as well as setting the two fastest times in the final qualifiers.
But in the past, the two-time World Cup champion has suffered some setbacks in the biggest finals, such as at the World Championships in May, when she performed well in the preliminary rounds but failed in the final.
She felt that losing would be a good kick in the butt for the biggest test ever. This time she was ready. She took off like a rocket and reached the first tight corner first, her seventh race in a row.
From that moment on, no one could catch her and she raced around the 400-meter course, winning in 34.231 seconds, leaving her far behind her seven rivals.
Fifteen minutes earlier, however, another Australian hope, Izaac Kennedy, had fallen dramatically on the first corner of the men’s final.
The 23-year-old Gold Coast rider knew he needed a flying start to have any chance of a medal, so he tried to dive wide and fast at the first U-turn to get into the race, but hit the side of the track and flipped over at high speed.
He was in the pit on the track, but the good news was that he was able to get up, get back on his horse and slowly make his way back to the finish.
In the men’s race, France was the big winner, with Joris Daudet as the winner, ahead of Sylvain André.
