Saya Sakakibara sees silver lining in BMX Olympic dress rehearsal
BMX rider Saya Sakakibara has twice finished second in a pre-Paris Games confidence boost. Photo: Getty
Waiting at the top of the gate in Brisbane’s BMX World Cup, Saya Sakakibara got a sense of what’s to come in Paris.
A clear favourite of the sell-out crowd, Australia’s Olympics hope did her best to lap it up as she notched back-to-back seconds to remain on top of the standings with two rounds remaining.
“It was a lot of emotion; I’ve never been in such good form coming into a home World Cup and I know I had a lot of eyes on me and really wanted to win,” she told AAP on Sunday.
She knows the number of eyes will only grow in the lead-up to the Paris Games from July.
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“This (home crowd) is probably the closest thing to the Olympics … I tried to embrace it and basically rehearse that mental side,” she said.
“I heard the cheers and thought this is such a cool life; it’s mind-blowing so many people know who I am, it’s so crazy.
“Human beings aren’t prepared for that.”
Sakakibara lamented over-shooting and then under-shooting the first jump in the final on Saturday and Sunday, Switzerland’s Zoe Claessens edging ahead at the treacherous first turn and holding on to claim both races.
Three-time Olympian Lauren Reynolds, fifth in the Tokyo final, was stopped in the semi-finals but remains on track for selection alongside Sakakibara in Paris.
Sakakibara, a 24-year-old from the Gold Coast, had won the first two World Cup rounds and her consistency in a sport with such fine margins has her primed for a medal charge in July.
But, badly concussed when crashing out of the Tokyo semi-finals, knows the sport takes no prisoners.
Her brother Kai was in a coma for eight weeks after a horrible crash in 2020 and is now targeting para-rowing at the Paralympics.
And fellow Australian Paris hope Izaac Kennedy felt the full force when, sitting clear in second in the quarter-final on Sunday, he was taken out by the falling leader on the final turn.
“In such a high-risk sport, to trust myself again, I feel like I’ve unlocked something,” Sakakibara assessed of her rise since the 2021 concussion.
“It wasn’t very perfect this weekend; that first jump yesterday I over-jumped and today came up too short and they were my downfalls.
“I learnt a lot and at the same time really glad it’s over so I can have a little rest.”
Kennedy, back from an anterior cruciate ligament tear, had won his maiden World Cup event on Saturday but had to watch from the stands as Brit Kye White took the spoils on Sunday.
But his efforts still put him firmly on the radar for an Olympic debut.
Australians won both the U23 races, Teya Rufus making it two from two as she and compatriot Isabell May were neck and neck down the final straight.
And Oliver Moran found incredible speed on the final rhythm section to hit the lead and clinch the U23 male gold.
The World Cup’s final two rounds will take place in Tulsa, US in April.
-AAP
