PARIS (Reuters) - Many young couples who have been together a few years entertain thoughts of gold rings. Australian BMX racer Saya Sakakibara and her French BMX racing boyfriend Romain Mahieu also have gold on their minds - in this case, in the form of Olympic medals.
Both have dominated their sport's global rankings over the past year, and both are serious contenders for gold. Sakakibara, 24, made an impressive comeback after two years of struggling with injury, and Mahieu, 29, a late bloomer in his field, finally found his top form after a decade of international competition.
"My boyfriend and I, we get to ride together, race together, and follow the same goal. We are both at a really high level together and we have been sharing wins at world cup rounds over the past two years, so hopefully we can make that a medal," Sakakibara told Reuters.
Sakakibara was the No. 1 ranked female BMX Racing rider in 2024 and 2023, after two years marked by injury: a concussion at the Tokyo 2021 Olympics and a 2022 crash that left her with a bruised lung and another concussion.
Injury has cast a long shadow over her roller-coaster career. Sakakibara's older brother Kai, in whose footsteps she entered BMX and with whom she has trained for years, left racing following traumatic brain injury in a 2020 World Cup crash.
He now has only partial function on one side of his body and is training to be in the Paralympics as a rower, although he has not qualified for Paris 2024.
The traumas sparked thoughts about leaving the accident-heavy sport, but now Sakakibara is back and looking forward to her second Olympics, in the home country of the man she loves and where she spends a large part of her life.
"I always go for gold, I am at a level that I can. I produced good results the past year and I have a lot of confidence," she said.
Born in Japan, Sakakibara took up BMX at age four, following in her brother's footsteps.
Saya competed in her first world championships for Japan at age seven, before moving to Australia, which she now represents.
Mahieu also took up BMX at the age of four, inspired by his father, who was involved in motocross. Born in Lille, northern France, he was crowned French junior champion at age 17. He has had a decade of steady but mixed performance at UCI races amid a field of strong French riders who dominate BMX racing globally.
After taking sixth place at the Tokyo Olympics individual event, Mahieu had a near-perfect year in 2023, winning the world title and the overall World Cup series title.
Mahieu and Sakakibara have been together since at least 2019, when they both won a race on the Tokyo Olympic circuit and made their relationship public.
Since end 2022, Mahieu spends winters in Australia and Sakakibara spends much of her time in Sarrians, southern France.
Already in an unprecedented position at the top of the World Cup standings, an Olympic medal for both looks well within reach.
Gold for both of them, Mahieu said in an interview with France 24 TV, "would be a dream".
Paris 2024 BMX Racing runs in the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome on Thursday and Friday.
(Reporting by Geert De Clercq; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
