Saya Sakakibara and Jesse Asmus have led the ARA Australian Cycling Team to a confident start at the 2026 UCI BMX Racing World Championships, laying down strong runs in qualifying ahead of tomorrow’s finals in Brisbane.
In Men Elite, Asmus set the fastest lap in Round 1 and bested it with a 33.585 in the 1/8 Finals to comfortably progress alongside Jack Davis.
After Izaac Kennedy was unable to start after crashing in practice yesterday, his fellow Nerang BMX Club member gave the home fans reason to celebrate.
“They called my name out there, and there was a massive cheer, and I feel like that gave me a good boost to have a real crack down the first straight,” Asmus said.
“Having the home crowd gave me some extra oomph, and I could hear the crowd the whole way around the track, which was really cool.”
In Women Elite, Sakakibara comfortably led an Aussie 1-2-3 with Sienna Pal and Bella May in their Round 1 heat. Lauren Reynolds and Teya Rufus also got the job done in windy conditions, ensuring all our elite starters will make an appearance on our home track tomorrow.
“At the top of the start hill, I could hear everyone cheering and it just put a huge smile on my face,” Sakakibara said.
“Usually, I’m up there and I’m really anxious and really stressed, but this time around I felt really relaxed, although I did have some shakes but that’s normal.
“I stayed in control out there and I think I put down a pretty good lap.”
Australian under-23 champion Josh Jolly set the fastest time in Round 1 of the Men U23 event, cruising through in 33.681 seconds.
In the Junior categories, Stephanie Alexander, Isla Basa and Cameron Gatt brought the crowd to their feet with wins in their quarter finals.
Earlier in the day, AJ Donald and Mia Webster were eliminated from the Under-23 events after crashing in Round 1 and the Last Chance Qualifier respectively.
Racing at the 2026 UCI BMX Racing World Championships continues tomorrow from 12:00pm AEST, streaming live on SBS and Fox Sports.
Photos: Alex Whitehead / SWpix.com