OlympicTalk · Apr 4, 2021
Rikako Ikee qualifies for Tokyo Olympics swimming after leukemia
Rikako Ikee, the Japanese swim star who spent 10 months hospitalized for leukemia in 2019, qualified for the Tokyo Olympics on Sunday, 14 months after saying it was a miracle that she was alive.
Ikee won the 100m butterfly in 57.77 seconds at Japan’s Olympic Trials to earn a spot at least on the nation’s medley relay team. The 20-year-old was reportedly in tears afterward.
“I’ve never thought I’d be able to win the 100m,” the Tokyo native Ikee said, according to Kyodo News. “I thought I could win only in the distant future. But I trained to win, and I was saying to myself ‘I’m back,’ as I entered this race.”