Saya Sakakibara

Saya Sakakibara (born 23 August 1999) is an Australian cyclist competing in BMX racing events.

Early life Sakakibara was born on the Gold Coast, Queensland, to a mother of Japanese heritage and a father of British citizenship. She started BMX racing at the age of four after watching her older brother Kai competing. 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.

Personal life Sakakibara is in a relationship with French BMX rider Romain Mahieu. She was the subject of ABC TV's Australian Story broadcast on 20 October 2025. Her autobiography Just Go: Turning fear into a superpower was published by Simon & Schuster on 28 October 2025.

Career 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. She was selected for the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics as part of the Australian team. She crashed in the semi-finals of the Olympics and did not qualify for the final.

She won the 2023 UCI BMX Racing World Cup and retained her title in Tulsa in 2024.

She won gold at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. She was jointly awarded the Sir Hubert Opperman Trophy of 2024, along with Grace Brown, for the Australian cyclist of the year.

She won a silver medal the 2025 BMX World Championships in Denmark. She won her third World Cup in 2025 after winning the final two rounds in Argentina.

Major results

2016 1st Junior Elite BMX Supercross National Championships 1st Junior Elite BMX Supercross Oceania Championships 2017 1st Junior Elite BMX Supercross National Championships 1st Junior Elite BMX Supercross Oceania Championships 2nd Junior Elite BMX Supercross World Championships 2018 6th Elite BMX Supercross World Championships 2019 1st Elite BMX Supercross Oceania Championships 1st Elite Tokyo 2020 BMX Test Event 7th Elite BMX Supercross World Championships 2021 1st Superclass Women BMX National Championships 2023 1st UCI BMX Racing World Cup 1st Oceania Championships 1st Elite BMX National Championships 2024 1st UCI BMX Racing World Cup XXXIII Olympics (Paris 2024) Gold Medal Women's Cycling BMX Racing 2025 1st UCI BMX Racing World Cup 1st Elite BMX National Championships 2nd UCI BMX World Championships, Elite 2026 1st Elite BMX National Championships 2nd UCI BMX World Championships, Elite