Swimmer Rikako Ikee is recovering from Leukemia

Leukemia survivor Rikako Ikee wins Olympic berth in swimming relay

Two years ago, swimmer Rikako Ikee was diagnosed with leukemia

Two years after being diagnosed with leukemia, swimmer Rikako Ikee is now in the Tokyo Olympics in her home country. “I feel like I have started the second chapter of my swimming career,” she said.

In 2020, she appeared in Tokyo’s new National Stadium where the opening ceremony would have been held. She was part of a brief video message to encourage other athletes to be hopeful the Olympics will take place next year despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ikee, who swam at the Rio Games and holds multiple national records, would have missed the Tokyo Olympics if it hadn’t been postponed due to the pandemic. The swimmer revealed her leukemia diagnosis in February 2019 and underwent treatment for 10 months. She resumed practice just three months after her discharge from the hospital and returned to the competition in August 2020.

Ikee has made an impressive comeback despite having lost weight and muscle mass due to her illness. She secured her spot at the Tokyo Olympics after winning all four of her events at Japan’s national championships, but she focuses on the women’s 4×100-meter medley relay.

“I was not expecting to win at all, and I was feeling far less confident than during the Olympic qualifiers five years ago,” she said.” “I thought I wouldn’t be able to win for a long time. But I trained hard to win. And, in the end, I came into the race telling myself I’m back. And so I feel that, even if you go through suffering and pain, your hard work will always be rewarded.”

Twitter users said they’re touched by just seeing Ikee swimming at Olympics during the Olympics, no matter what the results were. “Rikako Ikee is great! Even though she didn’t make it to the final, even just reaching such a high level is the result of a lot of hard work,” one person wrote. “I feel very energized.”

“It is already amazing that Rikako Ikee made her return after getting sick and made it to the Olympics. The fact that she closed the gap between her past and current performance makes me tremble and cry non-stop,” another user wrote.

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