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Saya Sakakibara's heartbreaking interview after BMX crash

Riley Morgan
·Sports Reporter
·3-min read
Saya Sakakibara (pictured right) tearing up in an interview following a crash (pictured left) at the Tokyo Olympics BMX event.
Saya Sakakibara (pictured right) became emotional after she was eliminated from the BMX in Tokyo after a crash. (Images: Channel 7)

Australian Saya Sakakibara has left fans in tears after she spoke out following a horror crash in Tokyo on Friday.

Aussie rider Sakakibara went down in what appeared to be a horrific BMX crash at the Tokyo Olympics, which sparked concern around the park.

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Moments after America Connor Fields' crashed, there was more scary scenes when Sakakibara went down in the middle of the pack.

America's Alice Willoughby appeared to accidentally clip Sakakibara's back wheel.

Sakakibara fell and was eliminated, but the greater concern was the Australian remaining on the ground.

However she managed to escape serious injury and was able to conduct an interview with Channel 7 a short time later.

"I honestly — I don’t really know what happened, but I know that I was riding really well,” she told Channel 7.

“My starts were going really well. I came down with Alise who caught up with me, we came down together. That’s all I remember."

An emotional Sakakibara then broke down in a heartbreaking moment.

“This is so disappointing," she said.

"I feel like I have let everyone down and I let everyone down especially my brother.”

Sakakibara is racing in Tokyo for her brother Kai, who was seriously injured in a BMX crash last year.

Her older brother continues to recover from a traumatic brain injury after crashing at a World Cup race in February 2020.

He is in Tokyo with his mother and grandmother to be part of the Paralympic torch relay, but was not at the track on Friday because of Covid-19 restrictions.

Fields goes down in horror crash in Tokyo

Reigning Olympic gold medallist Fields was rushed to hospital following a shocking crash after she was carried off on a stretcher in the third qualifying heat on Friday.

Fields was fourth after his opening two heats and landed hard off a jump heading into the first turn in the second heat.

The 28-year-old from Las Vegas slammed into the turn and lay on the track as medical personnel rushed out to help him.

Saya Sakakibara of Team Australia competes during the Women's BMX quaterfinal heat 3, run 3 on day six of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Saya Sakakibara of Team Australia competes during the Women's BMX quaterfinal heat 3, run 3 on day six of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) (Ezra Shaw via Getty Images)

Fields was attended to for several minutes before being carried away on a stretcher. He was then loaded into an ambulance and transported to hospital.

Fields had qualified for the finals, but wasn't able to take his place.

He became the first American to win BMX gold at the 2016 Olympics in Rio and was a favourite to win it again in Tokyo.

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