SAKAKIBARA Saya

General
MOVE TO AUSTRALIA
She began BMX racing in Japan before moving to Sydney, NSW, Australia, with her family in 2007, where she and her brother Kai joined the Southlake Illawarra BMX Club. She said there was a noticeable improvement in the BMX facilities and community on offer in Australia compared to Japan. "If you compare the BMX community in Japan of 200 members to 15,000+ members in Australia, it's quite apparent that BMX is very small in Japan, especially considering the population. I'm guessing that there were fewer riders in Japan when I was living there, so there was a lot of hours spent in the car travelling to different races and to tracks on the weekend, as there weren't many tracks available just to ride. Dad would take [her brother] Kai and me to jump parks or trails just to get some bike time." (lessonsinbadassery.com, 08 Jul 2020; thebloombmx.com, 21 Jan 2019)

REPRESENTING AUSTRALIA
Born in Japan, she represented her country of birth at youth level before switching her sporting allegiance to Australia as a junior rider. "When I was turning seven, I competed in my first world championships, and this was while I was living in Japan, hence why I competed as a Japanese rider. Then when we moved to Australia, we [her and brother Kai] just continued to race as Japanese at world championships each year until my first year as a junior elite. Turning junior elite, means that everything becomes more official, points from races count towards nation rankings and everything becomes more serious. So, I had to make a decision before the start of the year, yes it was a long process. Counting up the pros and cons and thinking about my future as an athlete and as a person. I think what it came down to was where I feel the most comfortable. My family lives in Australia, I have friends in Australia and most of my fans are in Australia, so Australia it was. I was quite young when I had those big country moves, so I was able to adapt quite well. I think more than it being difficult, I was more embracing all the changes and unusual experiences that were coming my way. And I believe those experiences were the foundations of what my identity has become now. I can speak Japanese, I have Japanese values, but I also feel like I am full Australian as well." (australiancyclingteam.com, 01 Sep 2020; thebloombmx.com, 21 Jan 2019)

INSPIRED BY BROTHER'S INJURY AND RECOVERY
In February 2020 her brother Kai, who is also a BMX racer, suffered a traumatic brain injury after crashing at a World Cup event in Bathhurst, NSW, Australia. He was put into a medically-induced coma for four weeks before starting over five months of rehabilitation. "Despite all of his injuries, Kai has continued to fight from day one. He is very determined like he has always been, and in good spirits, making jokes and having a laugh here and there. Through this whole experience, it has been inspiring for me to watch just how much and how fast he has made gains." (lessonsinbadassery.com, 08 Jul 2020)

BMX AS STUDIES INCENTIVE
Her parents encouraged her to study hard in school in Australia by offering to support her BMX career in return for good grades at school. "I think [the] priority of school and training really varied on what grade I was in and even the time of year. My parents and I made a deal that if I did my best in school, they would continue to support my BMX, and that was it for me. Kai was always the motivated and driven one, and I was the one following along with everything that he did, whether it was track sessions, sprint sessions or gym sessions. I'd like to say I wasn't bad at managing my time, but it did mean that I missed out on the odd birthday party here and there. I was sad to miss out, but I'd always choose BMX over social events." (lessonsinbadassery.com, 08 Jul 2020)