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The 24-year-old sealed the victory in Argentina on Sunday morning (AEDT) with a dominant display in Round 10, winning the women's elite final with a time of 32.074 seconds ahead of third-place overall Laura Smulders (32.976) of the Netherlands.
After nearly quitting the sport, the win was Sakakibara's third in a row at the BMX World Cup after prevailing both the previous day and on Monday's (AEDT) round eight at Santiago del Estero. She also won rounds three and six of the competition, finishing the season on 3775 points overall ahead of British Olympic gold medallist Bethany Shriever (3044).
The redemptive victory for the Gold Coast rider came after taking an extended break from the sport, following long-lasting concussion symptoms she suffered after a crash in the semi-finals of the Tokyo Olympics.
Her brother Kai also sufferred a serious injury from BMX racing in early 2020, which left him coma for two months with severe brain trauma. Sakakibara dedicated her world title to him after claiming victory in Round 10.
"[It means] everything. When I was at home with my concussion this time last year, I just never would have thought that I would win this overall and have such a successful season," she said.
"I was definitely was in the lowest of the lows [last year]. I definitely thought of giving up altogether. I really didn't think it was worth the risk, but I'm so happy that I brought out the courage and gave it one more red hot go, and I think it really paid off.
"It just goes to show that how important it is to go through those hard times. There's always something better on the other side and I've definitely learned so much this year.
"I'll dedicate this one to my brother Kai. Having that number 77 on my back and on my plate is such an honour. And, yeah, this one's for him."
Sakakibara will enter the 2024 season as defending champion, with the first two rounds set to take place in Rotorua, New Zealand on February 10-11, and rounds three and four bringing the Gold Coast native to a home crowd in Brisbane on February 24-25.
