Saya Sakakibara of Australia wins Olympic gold in BMX racing at the Paris Games

MONTIGNY-LE-BRETONNEUX, France (AP) — Saya Sakakibara seriously thought about giving up BMX racing a few years ago. She had suffered a concussion in a crash during the Tokyo Olympics, then had another within the year, and it became impossible not to start thinking about her brother.

Kai Sakakibara had to retire from racing in 2020 after sustaining a serious brain injury at a World Cup event.

“I was really not enjoying it,” Saya Sakakibara said. “After the second concussion, I really thought that was the end for me.”

She had been riding so well before Tokyo, though, that she couldn't help but think of what might have been. So she decided to push on to Paris, knowing full well that if she put everything together at the right time, she was good enough for gold.

It happened on Friday night at the BMX course just outside the city.

Sakakibara beat American rider Alise Willoughby to the first corner and was never tested again, cruising through the jumps and bumps to the top step of the podium. Manon Veenstra of the Netherlands was second and Zoe Claessens of Switzerland third.

Sakakibara’s partner, Romain Mahieu, won bronze earlier in the night to complete a French sweep of the men’s podium.

“After Tokyo,” Sakakibara said, "I think that concussion was probably the start of kind of that emotional roller coaster that I had, and maybe up until that I point I hadn't really revisited or dealt with the emotions that I had after Kai's accident.

“But reflecting back on Tokyo, before the crash I was doing pretty good, and I think there was that burning desire of what could have been. And if i gave it all up then, I would be very, very disappointed that I didn't give it another crack."

Willoughby, a three-time world champion, was shuffled back after the first corner in the finals and finished sixth. Bethany Shriever of Britain, the reigning Olympic champion, was never in the medal mix and finished last in the eight-rider finals.

“It was a tough one. Tough one to swallow,” said Willoughby, whose only medal in four Olympics remains the silver she won in 2016 in Rio. “Just disappointed, obviously, but chin still up, you know?”

The opening heats, which concluded just as a thunderstorm drenched the covered BMX track adjacent to National Velodrome of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines on Thursday night, were dominated by the three riders considered the medal favorites.

That would be Sakakibara, Shriever and Willoughby, who has won just about everything in her career but Olympic gold.

If there was another favorite, it was Mariana Pajon of Colombia — and she had a much more difficult time.

The two-time Olympic champion and reigning silver medalist failed to finish better than fifth in any of her three heats. That left Pajon to race the dreaded last-chance qualifier. She won, but the extra race may have taken a bit out of her legs.

Shriever and Sakakibara swept each of their semifinal runs, but Willoughby found herself in trouble.

She finished second to Sakakibara in her first run before getting shuffled back to seventh in her second, leaving Willoughby the first rider on the outside with one semifinal to go. She was solidly in second until the final straight when Claessens pulled next to her, but Willoughby used a bike-throw at the line to take second place in a photo finish.

That helped to give her the points necessary to make the finals. It came at the expense of Pajon, who tied with Axelle Etienne of France for the last spot but lost out on the tiebreaker.

Then in the finals, Sakakibara showed that she was the class of the field.

Veenstra and Claessens made for a pair of surprises standing alongside her on the podium.

“I didn't really do great in the semis, and I was just like, ‘OK, go full gas,’” Claessens said. “I'll pick the outside, go full gas and it worked out, and I'm very happy.”

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

Saya Sakakibara of Australia crosses the finish line to win the gold medal in a BMX racing event, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Saya Sakakibara of Australia, left, is congratulated by bronze medal's winner Romain Mahieu of France after the BMX men's and women's racing events at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Saya Sakakibara of Australia, left, and Merel Smulders of Netherlands compete in a BMX racing event, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Saya Sakakibara of Australia celebrates clinching the gold medal in a BMX racing event, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Saya Sakakibara of Australia races to win the gold medal in a BMX racing event, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Saya Sakakibara of Australia, centre, bites her gold medal of the women's BMX, flanked by silver medallist Manon Veenstra of Netherlands, left, and bronze medallist Zoe Claessens of Switzerland, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

Bronze medallist Romain Mahieu of France, left, poses with gold medallist Saya Sakakibara of Australia, after the men's and women's BMX racing events, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

Romain Mahieu of France, winner of the bronze medal in the men's race, hugs women's gold medallist Saya Sakakibara of Australia, following the BMX racing events, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Israeli forces have recovered the body of a hostage held in Gaza, the military said Wednesday, adding that it was identifying additional remains that could belong to another captive. The recovery of Yosef AlZayadni, 53, from an underground tunnel comes as Israel and Hamas are considering a ceasefire and hostage release deal.

The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and abducting around 250. A third of the 100 hostages still in Gaza are believed to be dead.

Palestinian medics said Israeli airstrikes killed at least nine people in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, including three infants — among them a 1-week-old — and two women. Israel’s military says it only targets militants, accusing them of hiding among civilians.

Israel’s air and ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza has killed over 45,800 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry. It does not say how many were fighters, but says women and children make up over half the fatalities. The military says it killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.

And in Yemen, the U.S. military says it carried out a wave of strikes against underground arms facilities of the Houthi rebels. The Iran-backed Houthis have targeted shipping for more than a year and recently ramped up missile attacks on Israel, saying they seek to force an end to Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.

Here's the latest:

NEW YORK — Family members of Americans being held hostage in Gaza are planning to attend President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration later this month.

Representatives for the family members said they plan to meet with officials in the incoming Trump administration and members of Congress to urge them to prioritize the safe return of the hostages.

Seven Americans are among the dozens of hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza.

Trump has sent his incoming special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, to Qatar this week for additional talks to work on their release. The Republican president-elect has threatened Hamas by warning that “All hell will break out” if the hostages aren't released.

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is expected to defer to the incoming Trump administration to decide whether to lift sanctions on Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and its leader, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the outgoing administration’s thinking on the matter.

The officials, who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said on Wednesday that the Biden administration has sought to take a careful approach on HTS, the new de facto authority in Syria after overthrowing President Bashar Assad.

The officials added that lifting a foreign terrorist designation is a cumbersome process and that it’s unlikely that the administration could come to a final decision on the matter with just 12 days to go before Trump takes office.

HTS leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, who was once aligned with al-Qaida, met in December with the top U.S. diplomat for the Middle East, Barbara Leaf, who led the first U.S. diplomatic delegation into Syria since Assad’s ouster.

The U.S. on Monday eased some restrictions on Syria’s transitional government to allow the entry of humanitarian aid. And the Biden administration in December decided to drop a $10 million bounty it had offered for the capture of al-Sharaa.

By Aamer Madhani

BEIRUT — A French journalist was released after the Israeli army detained him on Wednesday in southern Syria.

Sylvain Mercadier, who contributes to the French publication Marianne, was documenting Israeli military activity when he was taken into custody alongside his fixer, according to Marianne.

Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli military spokesperson, said the journalist had come “too close” to soldiers on a number of occasions and did the same on Wednesday. He said the troops “took him shortly and then released him, understanding he’s not posing a threat.”

Mercadier said Israeli soldiers beat him while he lay on the ground and hit his colleague, Mohammed al-Fayyad, in the back of his head with a rifle butt.

“We were handcuffed and blindfolded. … We were threatened and humiliated,” he said in a post on X. They were left with cuts and bruises, notably where their wrists were tightly restrained, after more than four hours of what Mercadier called mistreatment.

“We had done nothing but do our work: journalism,” he wrote.

Mercadier said he was reporting near Hamidiye, a village in Quneitra province. Israeli forces captured the area last month, which lies in a U.N.-patrolled buffer zone in Syria's Golan Heights.

He said he followed Israeli soldiers' orders to stop filming and allowed them to search his vehicle, but was arrested after he and al-Fayyad protested the soldiers' attempt to confiscate a laptop.

PARIS — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is again saying that a ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas is “very close” and he hopes “we can get it over the line” before handing over U.S diplomacy to the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump.

“In area after area, we’re handing off, in some cases, things that we haven’t been able to complete but that create real opportunities to move things forward in a better way,” he said Wednesday on a stop in Paris for meetings.

Blinken said that even if the Biden administration's plans for a ceasefire and hostage deal don’t come to fruition before Trump’s inauguration, he thinks they’ll be put into practice afterward.

“I believe that when we get that deal – and we’ll get that deal – it will be on the basis of the plans that President Biden put before the world,” he said.

The body of an Israeli hostage held in Gaza, 53-year-old Yosef AlZayadni, was recovered in an underground tunnel in southern Gaza, the military said Wednesday. It said it was examining whether a second body was that of another hostage.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said earlier a second hostage's body had been recovered: AlZayadni’s son Hamzah.

The men were taken captive during Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7, 2023. The return of the body comes as Israel and Hamas are considering a ceasefire and hostage release deal.

Israel believes a third of the remaining 100 hostages are dead. However, AlZayadni was believed to still be alive before Wednesday’s announcement.

AlZayadni, who had 19 children, had worked at a dairy in southern Israel’s Kibbutz Holit for 17 years, said the Hostages Family Forum, a group representing the families of captives. AlZayadni was kidnapped with three of his children. His teenage kids, Bilal and Aisha, were released in a weeklong ceasefire deal in November.

The family are members of the Bedouin community, part of Israel’s Palestinian minority who have Israeli citizenship.

TEL AVIV, Israel — An Israeli group representing some families of hostages held in Gaza displayed an image of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on a huge electronic billboard in Tel Aviv with a reference to his threat to unleash “hell” if the captives aren't freed before he takes office later this month.

The group behind the billboard, Tikva Forum, has called for Israel to use increased force against Hamas to secure the release of their loved ones.

The billboard shows a photo of Trump raising his fist moments after his assassination attempt, and threatens in English “the fire of hell will open” if the hostages aren't released.

Many in Israel have been energized by Trump's warning, hoping it could exert more pressure on Israeli and Hamas leaders to reach a deal to free hostages in exchange for a ceasefire in Gaza.

A third of the 100 hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza are believed to be dead.

DAMASCUS, Syria — Syria's de facto leader Ahmad al-Sharaa received a delegation from Bahrain on Wednesday and met with the Bahraini foreign minister, state media reported.

The visit was the latest in a flurry of diplomatic overtures by Arab countries to Syria’s new leaders after they overthrew former President Bashar Assad in a lightning rebel offensive.

Like other Gulf countries, Bahrain had cut off diplomatic ties with Syria under Assad’s rule during the Syrian civil war, but it reopened its embassy in Damascus in 2018 and gradually restored ties with the Assad government.

Bahrain is the current head of the Arab summit, and days after Assad’s ouster it had sent a message to al-Sharaa offering its cooperation with the new authorities and saying, “We look forward to Syria regaining its authentic role in the Arab League.”

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The U.S. military says it carried out a wave of strikes against what it said were underground arms facilities of Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

U.S. Central Command said in a statement that Wednesday’s strikes targeted weapons used by the rebels to attack ships in the Red Sea.

The Houthis said seven strikes targeted sites in the rebel-held capital, Sanaa, and the northern Amran province, without providing further details. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The United States and its allies have carried out repeated strikes on the Houthis, who have continued to target shipping.

The rebels say they target ships linked to Israel, the U.S. or the U.K. to force an end to Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli airstrikes killed at least nine people in the Gaza Strip, including four infants and two women, Palestinian medics said Wednesday.

One strike hit a home in the central city of Deir al-Balah, killing two men and a woman, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the casualties. It also received a 4-month-old boy who was killed in a strike on his family house in the nearby built-up Bureij refugee camp.

An Associated Press journalist saw the four bodies in the hospital morgue.

In Gaza City, an airstrike hit a home in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, killing a 3-week-old baby, according to the Health Ministry’s emergency service.

Late Wednesday, the bodies of five people and eight wounded arrived at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital after an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah. Among the dead were two babies, including a 1-week-old infant, as well as a child and a woman. The other infant's age could not immediately be determined because of how badly they were burned, an AP journalist reported.

Israel’s military says it only targets militants, accusing them of hiding among civilians.

Israeli Defense Forces paratroopers clear ammunition from their weapons before entering the Western Wall plaza in Jerusalem's Old City for a ceremony on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip, as seen from Sderot, southern Israel, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)

FILE - Israeli soldiers are seen in a tunnel that the military says Hamas militants used to attack the Erez crossing in the northern Gaza Strip, on Dec. 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)

An electronic billboard beams an image of President-elect Donald Trump and references his threat to unleash hell if hostages held in Gaza are not freed until his inauguration later this month. in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza hold photos of their loved ones during a protest calling for their return, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Destroyed buildings stand inside the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Mourners carry the bodies of their relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, during their funeral at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians react next to the bodies of their relatives who were killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip at Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al-Balah, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A Palestinian looks at a damaged residential building following an overnight Israeli strike in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A Palestinian looks at a damaged residential building following an overnight Israeli strike in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians look at a damaged residential building following an overnight Israeli strike in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians look at a damaged residential building following an overnight Israeli strike in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A supporter of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza holds a photos of a hostage after a protest calling for their return, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Palestinians react next to the bodies of their relatives who were killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, at Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al-Balah, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Mourners transport the bodies of their relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, during their funeral in Deir al-Balah, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians carry the body of a relative killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, at Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al-Balah, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A Palestinian looks at a damaged residential building following an overnight Israeli strike in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Gazelles graze on a field in southern Israel on the border with Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Destroyed buildings stand inside the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Israeli military vehicles move inside the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)