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.