It was all celebrations for Saya Sakakibara and her boyfriend Romain Mahieu at Paris 2024 after they both raced their way to an Olympic medal. Aussie BMX star Sakakibara has stolen the hearts of Australians across the nation after she crossed the finish line of a nail-biting race, scoring herself a gold medal . Upon winning, she let out a massive scream and was quickly embraced by her boyfriend Roman Mahieu – who had only moments earlier won a bronze medal for France in the Men's BMX Final.
Watch the video above. READ MORE: Rift between Sussexes and the royals 'as great as ever' After celebrating their win at Paris' Champions Park, Mahieu joined Sakakibara for an interview with Today . Alluding to a crash during Tokyo 2020 that saw Sakakibara stretchered off the race course, Mahieu was quick to express his pride for his girlfriend and her amazing ascent to gold medal glory.
"It's beautiful because I've been with her when she was going through a hard time, and that would have been a bit sad to see her like stopping racing, like giving up on BMX when you know how good she can be," he said. READ MORE: Saya Sakakibara relives heart-warming moment with boyfriend Romain Mahieu "And yeah, I'm proud of her because she'd never give up. And she kept believing in her, working hard and getting back to to the top," he continued.
"And now she's on the top of the world, and that's, all she deserves." A beaming Sakakibara returned the sentiment to her Bronze medal-winning boyfriend, sharing that it feels "insane" to be sharing the career defining moment together. "Insane, insane.
Like we train together, we live together, and I've seen the work that he puts in," she said. READ MORE: Speculation Will and Kate are about to make a surprise visit to Paris She continued: "When I was watching him in the final, I just had full confidence — I was like, 'yeah, he's gonna smash it'. And he he did.
And I'm so, so happy for him, so proud of him. "It's a very special moment." As Sakakibara navigated her way through the BMX race course, Mahieu watched on in anticipation.
Then when she crossed the finish line becoming the first Australian BMX racer to win Olympic Gold, he pulled her into his arms. "I honestly didn't expect him to be standing there," she told Today after the initial shock of the win wore off. READ MORE: Olympian's romantic proposal under the Eiffel Tower "When I crossed the finish line and lunged .
.. I looked up and he was just there and I screamed and I could just see his face," she continued.
"We talked about this moment and after what he's done already it was just insane." Of winning the gold medal for Australia, Sakakibara later told Today: "This gold medal obviously makes me so happy but it makes so many other people happy as well. And yeah, that that's a really cool feeling.
" Sakakibara and Mahieu have been together since at least 2019 - the pair both won a race during the Tokyo Olympic circuit and made their relationship public. READ MORE: These trendy UGGs are a winter necessity Their Instagram posts reveal that the pair maintained a long distance relationship for a while between France and Australia. It appears Mahieu has since made the move to Australia to live with Sakakibara on the Gold Coast, as they both throw themselves into their sport.
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