By Jordan Baker
Australian cyclist Saya Sakakibara has won gold in the BMX racing, three years after a shocking crash in Tokyo left her unconscious.
She led from the outset, completely outclassing the competition.
Sakakibara thought she’d never compete again after Tokyo but felt a sense of unfinished business.
She got back on the bike and has been the top rider in the world since last year. Her partner, French rider Romain Mahieu, won bronze in the men’s event just minutes before the race began.
In a post-race interview, Sakakibara said she had arrived at the venue on Saturday morning AEST determined to “make these four hours the most proud I’ve ever been to myself”.
“It is crazy. I feel that it’s a dream. It is real, right?” she told Nine.
“I just envisioned the moment, I visualised being on the podium, hearing the national anthem and having the gold medal around my neck.”
Saya Sakakibara celebrates her gold medal-winning performance.Credit: AP
She also revealed she had COVID-19 at the start of the week and had missed a session on the track.
“I thought, ‘I can’t believe this is going to be my Olympic story.’ I just wanted to make sure that it’s going to be a gold medal story. Either way, it was going to end in tears and I just wanted to make sure it was going to be happy tears.”
More to come
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