World Domination: Olympic champion Saya Sakakibara’s goal to claim one elusive title
Saya Sakakibara, the Olympic BMX champion, is indisputably No.1 in the world after a stunning 2024. But there’s one title she is yet to claim. Here’s how she plans on rectifying that.
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She is the best in the world, an Olympic gold medallist, but there is one elusive title that BMX racer Saya Sakakibara is yet to chase down – something she plans to fix this year.
Sakakibara, 25, pulled off a stunning race in Paris last year to claim the gold medal at her second Olympics.
It was a flawless tournament winning her quarterfinal and semi on the way to the top of the podium.
The medal was about so much more than the 34.7 seconds it took Sakakibara to reach the finish line.
It started four years before, in February 2020 when her brother Kai, also a BMX racer, crashed in a World Cup race. He was in a coma for two months and spent another eight months in the brain injury ward.
The injury to her brother and her own concussions from several big crashes made Sakakibara question if she should continue.
But while her brain was telling her to do one thing her heart was urging her to stick with the sport she had grown to love.
At the Tokyo Games, 2021, Sakakibara’s hopes of a medal were ended when she was stretchered off the track after crashing in the semi-finals.
She took a step back from the sport before getting back on the bike late in 2021 to claim her first Australian title at the national championships.
There were more injuries, including concussions and bruised lungs – but come 2023 and Sakakibara was the BMX World Cup winner.
The journey took her to the Paris Olympics. Where with her brother in the stands watching she raced to the top of the podium.
“It’s pretty wild to think about how everything just came together at the right time for me,” Sakakibara said.
“So many things could have gone wrong and so it could have gone in a million different ways but for everything that I’ve trained for, physically and mentally, that I prepared for this event, everything just came together perfectly.
“Sometimes I still can’t believe that it’s true.”
THE AFTERMATH
Having the gold medal placed around her neck was “life-changing” for Sakakibara .
The Red Bull athlete, who is part of the Meet the Pro campaign, went from being mostly unknown to being stopped for autographs while out doing her grocery shopping.
There were media events, sponsors, public speaking engagements.
“It was everything that I wanted and expected but then also everything that I didn’t expect at the same time,” Sakakibara said.
“It was definitely really crazy, it was a huge life changing event that I wasn’t fully prepared for.
“After Paris it was a bit of navigating through what had happened as well as having so many people know who I am and know my story and to have connected with it.”
Now, six months on, the hype has slowed down.
Life is slowly returning to normal. The family relocated to the Gold Coast, where Sakakibara was born. And she is back to training alongside French boyfriend Romain Mahieu.
SINKING IN MOMENT
Her medal sits in a bag on a shelf in her cupboard, unable to be framed just yet as she needs to wear it to speaking engagements.
And while the medal is there and she has watched the gold medal race more times than she can count Sakakibara said it was all still sinking in.
“It’s funny, the sinking in moment, I think with life changing events, whether it is good or bad, it takes time to process and to accept and I think I’m still slowly accepting and embracing this new role and new identity that I have,” she said.
“There are times where I think back to Paris and think ‘did that actually happen’, ‘am I actually the Olympic champion?’.
“It’s pretty wild to think it is all over and I got the result that I wanted, this is my life but it still hasn’t sunk in it.”
WHAT’S NEXT
Nothing trumps an Olympic gold medal. It literally defines the winner as the best of the best.
For Sakakibara that was a difficult concept to grasp.
“I definitely toyed with the idea of ‘I’ve reached the top and what now?’,” she said.
“I think that is the same for a lot of gold medal winners. But for me when I look back the biggest satisfaction that I got was from the journey.
“I know it sounds super corny but I fell in love with the journey and learning more about myself and seeing myself focused and working towards a goal is something I really loved.
“It wasn’t all about the feeling of winning.”
Sakakibara prefers shorter term goals – to tackle life a day, a week, a month, a year at a time – thinking ahead to the next Olympics in three years time is too big.
“Going year by year is what works the best for me,” she said.
“I think I changed so much from last year and the year before that and how I approached each year was different so I think trying to plan for the next four years would be very hard.”
But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have a goal.
The 25-year-old has so far won the Australian title, Oceania title, World Cup and now the Olympics.
“The one thing I’m missing is the World Championships title, so that is my next goal.”
It will be held in Denmark in August.
Before that will be the World Cup – a series of races in France, Netherlands and Argentina.
SUPPORT NETWORK
Alongside her at every training session and every race will be her boyfriend. The Frenchman, also a BMX racer finished third in the men’s event at the Paris Olympics.
Sakakibara said the pair had to juggle a long distance relationship during Covid-19 when the pandemic forced the borders closed. But since then they have spent half a year (the racing off season) in Australia training and the second half in Europe racing.
“It makes a huge difference to have someone that you can just rely on all the time,” Sakakibara said.
“We’re just there to support each other and if we need to go somewhere for a race we’re always together. We understand each other because we’re doing the same thing.
“I’m so thankful to this relationship with Rom and that we get to do this together.”
KAI’S BIG GOALS
As much as Sakakibara ’s gold medal race was impressive, the story of her brother Kai captured just as many hearts.
Kai has relocated with the family to the Gold Coast and is continuing his rowing training – his end goal is to compete at the Paralympics.
“He’s working really hard towards going to the Paralympics and he is more determined than ever,” Sakakibara said.
“He’s literally getting better and better every day. It’s awesome to see.”
Sakakibara said watching her brother and his determination to beat every challenge thrown his way is a huge inspiration.
“He is the one driving himself to become better, we’re not the ones having to be like ‘Kai you need to go and do your rehab’,” she said.
“His day is packed from the moment he wakes up to the moment he goes to bed – everything is planned out.”
Originally published as World Domination: Olympic champion Saya Sakakibara’s goal to claim one elusive title
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