La nuotatrice giapponese Rikako Ikee gareggerà nelle qualificazioni olimpiche ad aprile dopo aver conquistato un podio nel suo primo 100 metri evento farfalla da quando è stato curato per la leucemia.
Ikee, che è stato diagnosticato a febbraio 2019 and returned to action in August last year, finished in 59.44 seconds to win bronze at the Tokyo Open on Saturday.
The 20-year-old will now compete at the Japan Swim meet, the country’s only Olympic-qualifying event before the Tokyo Games which were rescheduled to begin on July 23.
The Japanese Swimming Federation’s Olympic qualifying bar stands at 57.10 secondi, while Rio 2016 finalist Ikee’s national record is 56.08 secondi.
“I can’t say that I’m aiming for it now,” Ikee said here when asked about her chances of competing at her home Olympics.
“When we start to get results that are world-class, we will think about it at that time.”
Ikee also won the 50-metres butterfly race, a non-Olympic event, with a time of 25.77 secondi.
