Japanese mum of Aussie BMX stars is ready for Tokyo 2020

Japan-born Yuki Sakakibara is the mother of two Australian BMX elite athletes; Kai Sakakibara and Saya Sakakibara. Saya is representing Australia for the Tokyo Olympics 2020.

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Yuki Sakakibara, the mother of Australian BMX athlete Saya Sakakibara who represents the country for the Tokyo Olympics 2020. Yuki is staying in quarantine for 14 days in Tokyo, after she arrived Tokyo ahead of the Games. Source: SBS

2020 was unforgettable year for the family.  Kai and Saya were Olympic hopefuls at that time but Kai had a near-fatal crash at a race and had to let go of his dream of representing Australia for the Tokyo Olympics.  In addition to that, the pandemic started hitting Australia, and the Tokyo Games was postponed for a year.

Saya made it to the Tokyo Olympics.

Yuki and Kai are now in Tokyo, staying in quarantine for 14 days before watching Saya compete on TV with their family in Japan.

In the audio, Yuki looks back on the unforgettable year of 2020 and tells us how much Kai and Saya have achieved during the year.

Cardboard cut-out of Saya Sakakibara, an half-Japanese BMX athlete who represents Australia for the Tokyo Olympics 2020. Saya is being part of an ad campaign titled "Aussie Heroes". (Miyuki Roberts) Source: Miyuki Roberts

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