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Born | Gold Coast, Australia | 23 August 1999|||||||||||||||||||||||
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Saya Sakakibara (born 23 August 1999)[1] is an Australian cyclist competing in BMX Supercross events.
Sakakibara was born in Australia to a mother of Japanese heritage and a father of British heritage.[2] She started BMX racing at the age of four after watching her older brother competing.[3] The family moved to Sydney in 2007 and Sakakibara joined the South Illawarra BMX Club where her brother Kai was a member. She then began competing on the junior circuits and quickly rose through the ranks winning state and national titles.[4]
Sakakibara has represented Australia at World Championship level. She won a silver medal in the Junior Elite BMX Supercross at the 2017 World Championships. She was awarded AusCycling's Female BMX Racing Rider of the Year in 2020.[5] She was selected for the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games as part of the Australian team.[6][7] She crashed in the semi-finals of the Olympics and didn't qualify for the final.[8] Her accident was one of the scariest moments of the games, while her post-race heartbreak was one of the saddest.[9]