Saya Sakakibara puts exclamation mark on gold medal triumph with iconic, expletive-laden interview

Kaylee McKeown may have snatched the double-double in the pool but it was Saya Sakakibara who doubled down on her expletive-laden celebrations after winning gold in the women's BMX racing.

Having won all six of her races on her way to the final on Saturday morning (AEST), Sakakibara led from start to finish to claim the nation's first gold medal in the event.

Having overcome setbacks and adversity to stand on top of the dais — Sakakibara's older brother Kai sustained a life-changing brain injury after crashing heavily in 2020 before she suffered a horror fall herself in the third run of her semi final at Tokyo 2020 — the 24-year-old was full of relief.

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Speaking afterwards, Sakakibara was so ecstatic with the outcome that she forgot that athletes are not allowed to swear on live TV — several times.

"All I have to do is f-----g go," Sakakibara told Nine about her approach from the final.

In between deep breaths, Sakakibara tried to sum up becoming an Olympic champion.

"It's so amazing. I just can't [put the feeling into words]," she said.

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"The last two world championships I messed up in the final and I thought I'm just going to be a world cup winner and never win those big races, and this means so much.

"My family is here [and after] everything that I've been through the last three years. This is what got me going. I can't talk, I'm sorry."

Later reflecting on her win with Today presenter Brooke Boney, who referenced the "cheeky f-bomb", Sakakibara could not help herself.

"Let's f-----g go," she said

This triggered hysterics from Karl Stefanovic in the Today studio in Paris.

"That needs to be on a T-shirt," he said.

"Just go."