Saya's Story
Fast Facts
Sport: Cycling
Event: BMX Racing
Olympic History: Tokyo 2020
Year Born: 1999
State Born: Queensland
About Saya
Saya Sakakibara started BMX racing at just four-years-old after watching her older brother compete in events. She moved to Sydney in 2007 and joined the South Illawarra BMX Club alongside her brother Kai.
Competing on the junior circuits, Saya started to rise through the ranks and was soon winning state and national titles. In 2017 she won silver in the Junior Elite BMX Supercross at the World Championships.
A year later Saya made her senior World Championships debut where she finished in an impressive sixth place. That same year, she was runner up in the overall 2018 World Cup Series.
Her success continued throughout 2019, claiming multiple top-five finishes across the 2019 World Cups, seventh at the 2019 World Championships, and gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games test event.
The six-time national champion made her Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020 and Sakakibara showed a steely resolve by clawing her way back from a tough start in her quarter final heats when she ran off the track and finished last in her opening run.
Determined not to let it hold her back on Olympic debut, Sakakibara then finished fourth in her second run before producing a stunning victory in her third race to progress to the semi finals alongisde teammate Lauren Reynolds.
The younger sister of fellow Australian rider Kai who was seriously injured in a racing crash in 2020, Sakakibara then looked headed for the final when she finished fifth and first her first two semi final heats.
But she was cruelly denied a shot at a medal when she crashed out of the third and final run along with American Alise Willoughby, both narrowly missing the final which was won by Great Britain’s Beth Shriever.
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