TOKYO (Japan): Star swimmer Ikee Rikako, who once held so much promise for 2020 Olympic Games-turned cancer survivor, took her first dip in 406 days after she returned to the pool on March 17 for the first time since being diagnosed with leukaemia.
“I finally got permission from the doctor to go to the pool,” said the Japanese through social media. “406 days! I can’t begin to describe how happy I am and how good I feel. I’m so fortunate.
“The coronavirus is spreading all over Japan and the world. I plan to do my part in staying safe and healthy, and I hope the situation is contained as soon as possible”.
Ikee’s first swim was a small step towards full recovery, but it was also much-needed ray of positivity for the 19-year-old, and Japan, during a time when there is not a great deal of good news anywhere in the world.
For many athletes who were training to peak at Tokyo 2020 – like Ikee once was – Tuesday’s decision to postpone the Games until 2021 in light of the coronavirus pandemic was nothing short of crippling.
The athletes will have to regroup and begin their preparations again – but only after the global crisis subsides, and there is simply no telling when that will be.
Early in 2019, Ikee’s career was de-railed unexpectedly.
She obliterated the competition at the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia, winning six races en route to being named the Games MVP.
Owner of 11 national records and a radiant smile made in equal measure, she was destined to be a star at her home Olympic Games – but after feeling unusually breathless at a training camp in Australia in February last year, the leukaemia diagnosis shortly followed.
Last month Ikee resumed training. In her first interview since falling ill on 19 February, Ikee said she felt “lucky to be alive”.
Realistically, even with Tokyo 2020 being put off, the odds of her appearing at the Games in 2021 are stacked against her.
For Rikako, that will probably be Paris 2024, maybe be even Los Angeles 2028.
