Sawt Falasteen - 'He's here with me': Japan cycle queen dedicates gold to late brother

Kajihara claimed her third consecutive omnium gold at the Izu Velodrome on Friday and dissolved into tears as she talked about how her younger brother Hyogo had helped her cope with some dark moments.

"After I missed a medal at the Paris Olympics (2024) I was really depressed," said the 29-year-old Kajihara, the first woman cyclist from Japan to win an Olympic medal -- omnium silver at the Tokyo Games in the same Izu velodrome.

"I hit rock-bottom. And my brother said: 'Why do you look so down? Even though I have cancer, I'm this happy'," she said.

"He was going through an incredibly difficult battle with cancer, alone in a Tokyo hospital.

"It must have been so hard for him but he never once complained. He told me: 'Just being alive means you've already come out ahead'.

"I thought: Yes, he's right.

"It made me realise I needed to be grateful simply to be alive, grateful to those supporting me, and that I needed to enjoy life."

It was Kajihara's fourth Asian Games gold having also won the team pursuit at Hangzhou three years ago.

"Every single day my brother told me to 'enjoy'. I think I've finally begun to understand what it really means," said Kajihara, who also claimed team pursuit silver on Tuesday.

"Whenever I competed here (before) in Izu, he came to watch and stayed with me," she said.

"So today I kept thinking: Maybe he's here at the venue? I'm sure he's here, and I thought about him over and over as I raced.

"I felt as though he was saying to me: 'Enjoy yourself, Yumi, you'll be OK'."

W.AbuLaban--SF-PST