Olympic finalist Anthony Dean and teenage prodigy Saya Sakakibara have been named the 2017 BMX Australia sportspeople of the year at the annual awards dinner in Brisbane overnight. The duo claimed the top shelf awards…
Olympic finalist Anthony Dean and teenage prodigy Saya Sakakibara have been named the 2017 BMX Australia sportspeople of the year at the annual awards dinner in Brisbane overnight.
The duo claimed the top shelf awards on a night when fellow riders Brad Game and Sara Jones were recognised as the emerging athletes of the year, while the coach of the year awards went to Troy Fisher of NSW and Rebekkah Chiam of the Northern Territory.
For Dean the award comes after a breakout 12 months, where he returned from a broken collarbone to win his first professional BMX race in the USA in June 2016. That victory paved the way for the South Australian to race himself into the Olympic final on debut in Rio.
“I am honoured to win the BMX Australia Sportsperson of the Year award,” Dean beamed.
“Never before have I had this sort of recognition for my career so far, and I am very grateful to have been selected. Especially when so many other guys have also had great performances recently.
“I’m looking forward to representing Australia as I race around the world this year, and a big thanks to everyone that supports me.”
Saya Sakakibara talks about being named Female Sportsperson of the Year
Meanwhile youngster Sakakibara was truly stunned as she accepted her award from BMXA CEO Martin Shaw, perhaps her first unexpected victory on Australian soil in some time.
Rewind to May 2016, and Sakakibara and endured a difficult UCI BMX World Championships where a pair of crashes ruled her out of race action. Despite the setback the high-school student made her UCI BMX Supercross World Cup debut in October at just 17-years-old, and raced to second place behind 2012 Olympic bronze medallist Laura Smulders.
“It’s crazy to have received this, I don’t know much about this award because I just didn’t expect it,” Sakakibara said.
“But upon learning more, it’s very cool to win this. I am just out there riding and training and doing what I love, so to have people recognise my efforts, it’s pretty awesome.”
Also recognised were fellow riders Jones and Game who received the ‘Emerging Athlete of the Year’ awards. Jones, a long time adversary of Sakakibara, finished second in the junior elite women’s standings in year’s BMXA National Series. She also claimed her first win in Cairns.
Meanwhile Western Australia’s Game was recognised for a strong year in the elite men’s class in the National Series, where a second place in round one set him up for a top five finish in the ultra-competitive series.
Other wards went to South Australia’s Cathy Rosa and Queensland’s Ray Gough who were named as officials of the year. The top three riders in all classes from the National Series also received awards.
Kiwi Cailen Calkin speaks candidly about his gratitude at being accepted into the BMXA National Series so openly
AWARD WINNERS, FULL LIST
Sportsperson of the Year
Male – Anthony Dean
Female – Saya Sakakibara
Emerging Athlete of the Year
Male – Brad Game
Female – Sara Jones
Official of the Year
Male – Ray Gough
Female – Cathy Rosa
Coach of the Year
Male – Troy Fisher
Female – Rebekkah Chiam
National Series – Elite Men’s Standings
1st – Matthew Juster
2nd – Kai Sakakibara
3rd – Joshua McLean
National Series – Elite Women’s Standings
1st – Leanna Curtis
2nd – Tyler-Lea Thorley
3rd – Sarah Harvey
National Series – Junior Elite Men’s Standings
1st – Izaac Kennedy
2nd – Matt Krasevskis
3rd – Kyle Green
National Series – Junior Elite Women’s Standings
1st – Saya Sakakibara
2nd – Sara Jones
3rd – Erin Lockwood
National Series – 16 Men’s Standings
1st – Cailen Calkin (NZ)
2nd – Wade Mundie
3rd – Alexander Sheppard
National Series – 16 Women’s Standings
1st – Molly McGill
2nd – Lorsyn Affoo
3rd – Leah Hearne
National Series – 15 Men’s Standings
1st – Corey Taylor
2nd – Oliver Moran
3rd – Jack Davis
National Series – 15 Women’s Standings
1st – Des’Ree Barnes
2nd – Phoebe Wallen
3rd – Kiana Botfield
National Series – 14 Men’s Standings
1st – Buddha Baum
2nd – Jesse Asmus
3rd – Ethan Zrna
National Series – 14 Women’s Standings
1st – Paige Harding
2nd – Shannon Petre
3rd – Rayna Anesbury
National Series – 30+ Masters
1st – Luke Marsh
2nd – Luke Barnes
3rd – Paul Drury
National Series – 17+ Women
1st – Aislynn Weber
2nd – Chelsea Boylan
3rd – Tenae Brooks
National Series – 17-29 Men
1st – Dirk Winter
2nd – Levi Usher
3rd – Beau Pratt
