Australia has won a gold medal for Saya Sakakibara at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Sakakibara won the gold medal in the women's BMX race at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines BMX stadium outside Paris, France, on Friday. She has been pushing for the Tokyo Olympics after her brother suffered a traumatic brain injury in a racing accident and suffered a concussion after falling in the semi-finals three years ago.

"It's crazy. It's like a dream. It's reality," Sakakibara said. Every time I experience a setback, I ...... 'Let's try one more time,' I just thought. I didn't want to leave here without being proud of myself, and I wanted to make this setback worth it."

It was also a historic day for the French team, which swept the medals in men's BMX racing, with three-time world champion Joris Daudet taking gold, compatriot Sylvain Andre silver, and Romain Mahieu bronze.

"It's fantastic. A dream come true. I was able to get a result when it mattered, and I was able to do it because I'm a big favorite to win," Daudet said after the race.

The BMX race was held on Thursday with qualifying and the semi-finals on Friday morning.

Sakakibara won run 1, heat 1 of the semi-finals ahead of Alize Willoughby (USA) and Manon Veenstra (NL). In run 1, heat 2 of the semi-finals, Bethany Schriever (GBR) took the lead, followed by Molly Simpson (CAN) and Lauren Reynolds (AUS).

Sakakibara was also fastest in run 2, heat 1 of the semi-finals, ahead of Veenstra and Zoe Klassens (Switzerland), while Schriever was fastest in run 2, heat 2 of the semi-finals, ahead of Laura Smulders (Netherlands) and Mariana Pajon (Colombia).

Sakakibara, on the other hand, was fastest in Semifinal run 3, heat 2, ahead of Merel Smulders (NL) and Laura Smulders (NL).

Sakakibara, Schriever, and Veenstra finished the semi-finals in the top 3 with the lowest scores.

In the final for the gold medal, Sakakibara took first place with a time of 34.231, ahead of Veenstra, who took silver with 34.954, and Klassens, who took bronze with 35.060.

"After Tokyo, I think that concussion was the beginning of my emotional roller coaster. Until then, I had not reviewed or dealt with the emotions I had after Kai's accident.

"Eleven months later, after that concussion, I had another concussion and was very afraid of sports. After that concussion, I had another concussion and was very afraid of the sport. After that concussion I thought I was done and it wasn't worth the risk of another concussion. Head injuries are very scary, and after experiencing them twice in a row, I no longer felt like I could overcome them.

"Before Tokyo and that crash, I was in pretty good shape. If I had given it all up, I would have been disappointed in myself for not trying again.

"After those experiences, I went through a drastic change in my life and needed to find my relationship with BMX. I was able to find myself as a racer because I had been a racer with Kai and I had to find myself as a racer without Kai by my side." [27] [28] The rider, who races wearing number 77 representing his brother, dedicated his gold medal to his brother.

In the first heat of the men's semi-finals, Daudet was fastest ahead of his compatriot Andre. Maheu won the first heat 2 of the semi-finals ahead of Isaac Kennedy (AUS) and Cedric Butti (SW).

Mahieu won the semi-final run 2, heat 1 over Simon Marcato of Switzerland and Pietro Bertagnoli of Italy. Andre was fastest in run 2, heat 2 of the semi-finals, ahead of Daudet and Mateo Carmona Garcia of Colombia.

Mahieu also won the third semifinal heat 1 over Cameron Wood (USA) and Butti. Meanwhile, Daudet posted the fastest time in heat 2 of semi-final 3, beating compatriot Andre and Marquardt of Switzerland.

The French team went into the final as one of the favorites to win, with Mahieu, Daudet, and Andre holding the top three spots and lowest scores after the semifinals.

Daudet won the gold medal in the final with a time of 31.422 seconds, ahead of teammates Andre's 31.706 seconds and Mathieu's 32.002 seconds.

"I trained for it," Daudet said. 'I've been training hard mentally. I'm ready for that. It's just a lot of hard work and putting it together when it counts."

Silver medalist Andre said of his performance and the sweep of the French team: "I was in front. I wanted to stay in front, not lag behind. Once the three of us were in front, I was able to control [the race]. I knew there was an Olympic medal at stake, so I didn't do anything risky."

"To get first, second, and third, we knew it was possible, a slim chance, and we all wanted to win the race," Andre said.

"I'm happy that we won, not the other riders, but we did.

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