IBARAKI SAKAI Urban Sports Fes. 2026 is officially happening!

Sakai Town, Ibaraki Prefecture (Mayor: Masahiro Hashimoto) and the "IBARAKI SAKAI Urban Sports Fes. 2026" Executive Committee (Chairman: Tomitaro Noguchi) held a press conference at the Ajinomoto National Training Center (Kita Ward, Tokyo) on Monday, October 5, 2026, to announce the details of the "IBARAKI SAKAI Urban Sports Fes. 2026," which will be held in Sakai Town, Ibaraki Prefecture from Wednesday, November 25 to Sunday, November 29.

The press conference featured Mayor Masahiro Hashimoto, Executive Committee Vice Chairman Kazunori Shibata, JCF Strengthening Director/JOC High Performance Director (Cycling) Masahiro Sanpei, and BMX Freestyle Park Head Coach Ryan Nyquist. Also present were JCF強化指定選手 (strengthened athletes) Reina Shirai (resident of Sakai Town, Ibaraki Prefecture), Yu Katagiri, Chisato Todaka, Karin Motomura, and Soka Yoshimura, as well as Roller Freestyle Japan representative Aoi Iwama (resident of Sakai Town, Ibaraki Prefecture), who spoke about their aspirations for the tournament and the appeal of their respective sports.

（左から）JCF強化統括／JOCハイパフォーマンスディレクター〈自転車種目〉の三瓶将廣氏、BMXフリースタイル・パーク ヘッドコーチのライアン・ナイキスト氏、JCF強化指定選手の白井玲恵奈選手（茨城県境町在住）、片桐悠選手、戸高千翠選手、本村果鈴選手、吉村想花選手、ローラーフリースタイル日本代表の岩間葵選手（茨城県境町在住）、実行委員会副委員長の芝田和則氏

Following last year's event, this will be the second time the tournament is held, as part of "FISE," the world's premier international urban sports festival held in various locations around the globe. The event will feature the "UCI BMX Freestyle World Cup Park event," which is a qualifying event for points towards the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, as well as "Rollerblading (Freestyle)" and other events. Top-level athletes from around the world will gather in Sakai Town once again.

The UCI BMX Freestyle World Cup will continue its 2026 series through Montpellier, France, Birmingham, Alabama, USA, and Shanghai, China, culminating in the final race in Sakai Town, Ibaraki Prefecture. As the event that will determine the annual series champion, it is expected to feature fierce competition among the world's top athletes.

As part of its "community development centered on sports," Sakai Town in Ibaraki Prefecture has been working to attract world-class urban sports competitions. In February 2025, it signed a memorandum of understanding with World Skate regarding the hosting of world competitions, and in May, it signed an agreement with Hurricane regarding the hosting of FISE events. Last year, the two organizations jointly held the "IBARAKI SAKAI Urban Sports Fes.," the world's premier international urban sports competition, for the first time in Japan.

We successfully held this tournament, which brought together top-level athletes from all over the world, and we will continue to work with everyone to promote urban sports, aiming for Sakai Town to become a world-class hub for urban sports.