Four years into his opens career, however, and the Helensburgh talent has struggled to reach the lofty heights many expected. 

Instead the Helensburgh talent spent the past four years attempting to find his feet in the cut-throat world of elite BMX racing.

During that time, he has been forced to adapt to the struggles of life on the road, overcome the difficulties of racing hardened veterans and conquer his biggest challenge, the mental battle that comes with racing his childhood heroes. 

Sakakibara admits the transition to elite racing has been tougher than he expected. But now, having taken out the recent Oceania BMX Championships, the 22-year-old is ready to match it with the world’s best in 2019.

“It has been a pretty tough transition for me,” Sakakibara said. “This will be my fifth year in the elite class and I’m feeling at home now. 

“The first couple of years were really hard for me psychologically. Knowing I was up against idols I had looked up to since I was 10 and racing against them was overwhelming for me. It’s definitely taken a few years to adjust to.

“Now, I definitely see myself as not just a kid looking up, but actually a contender to beat them and be on top.”

Having finished the 2018 season in quality form and now launching 2019 with a victory, Sakakibara is looking to deliver consistent results when the World Cup series commences in April. 

Now he’s overcome the mental battle, Sakakibara is confident he will be able to achieve his goal of claiming a World Cup podium. 

“The win definitely gave me the confidence to say I’m travelling in the right direction. It’s different to a World Cup competition, but it just showed for me that I’m really growing psychologically.

“The goal this year is to get on the podium. I got pretty close to a podium last year with a fourth, so I’m hungry to get on to the podium. With that said, I’m just focusing on executing my best performance at each event, perform to my full capability and focus on that side of things, rather than the actual result.”

Like many young athletes, Sakakibara once possessed a burning desire to achieve that first World Cup race win. He concedes, however, it was a mindset that was holding him back at times.

“I think it’s imperative for me to focus on the process. I’ve been capable of making finals, the 2018 season showed I’m more than capable of a podium. It’s just been a couple of slip ups, whether tactically, technically or mentally that prevented it. 

“For me, it’s now ensuring I’m prepared as best I can and, at the end of the day, trusting myself and allowing myself to perform to what I’m capable of.”

The upcoming year is shaping as an important period for Kai and younger sister Saya, who also took gold at the Oceania Championships, with 2019 forming the bulk of the Tokyo Olympic qualification process.

The siblings spent a portion of their childhood growing up in Tokyo and they are determined to ensure they are on the plane to Tokyo next July. 

“Ever since the Olympics were announced to be in Tokyo, it has been a huge goal of mine. I’m half Japanese, it was somewhere I grew up, I speak Japanese, so it holds a special meaning for me.”