Tears of Joy as Saya Wins BMX Gold 

Saya Sakakibara has claimed a slice of history, winning Australia’s first-ever Olympic gold medal in BMX Racing.

With tears streaming down cheeks that could not contain her smile, Saya stepped onto the top step of the podium in Paris as an Olympic champion.

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Three years on from heartbreak in Tokyo when she crashed out in the semi-finals, the 24-year-old delivered Australia’s first ever Olympic gold medal in BMX Racing.

“I’ve run out of tears,” she said after the medal ceremony.

“Honestly I’m just so grateful for all the hard experiences that I had since Tokyo and Kai’s (brother) accident, because those are the moments that made me really dig deep and find myself with BMX again.

“I just wanted to leave here having enjoyed the experience and having put everything out there, and be able to look back on the videos of my performance and be like ‘yeah I’m proud of that’ and I definitely did.”

In a breathtaking performance over two days, Saya did not lose a single race in Paris – winning all three heats in the quarter-finals, all three semi-finals and then the main event with the most dominant performance of all.

It was a special moment for the whole family with Saya’s parents and her older brother Kai cheering her on from the stands.

Kai had his promising BMX career cut-short just months from the Tokyo Olympics when he suffered a serious head injury in a crash while racing in Bathurst, and Saya now has his No.77 on the front of her bike whenever she races.

“He said ‘I’m proud of you’ and I saw him watching the podium and when the national anthem was playing I couldn’t stop the tears, we’ve gone through so much and it’s super special that he is here and my parents as well.”

In the final, Saya produced her trademark speed out of the start gate, took control of the race at the first corner and never looked back, winning gold from Manon Veenstra (NED) and Switzerland’s Zoe Classens.

Post-race she revealed she had been battling Covid during the week and had been dealing with a sore throat and some fatigue.

In her fourth Olympics, fellow Australian Lauren Reynolds, was cruelly denied a spot in the final when she veered off the track in the last of her semi-final heats.

Lauren, whose previous best result was fifth in the final in Tokyo, finished third, fourth and eighth in her semi-finals to be the 10th ranked rider overall in the women’s field.

In the Men’s competition, Izaac Kennedy rode to a brave eighth place in the final after an unfortunate crash.

Still recovering from a broken wrist which required surgery in May, and racing with a special brace to protect it, he put the pain aside to book a spot in the final and was in good position before crashing on the first corner as France completed a clean sweep of the podium.

Article courtesy of AOC