RIKAKO IKEE

RIKAKO IKEE

Young Japanese swimmer Rikako Ikee was born on the 4th of July, 2000. She has broken records in different styles and categories since 2015.

She has several national records in the 50, 100 and 200-meter freestyle and in the 50 and 10-meter butterfly.

She was named at the Asian Games in Jakarta, in 2018, as "The best athlete of the event", as she got 6 gold and 2 silver medals.

She has been the first female MPV (Most Valuable Player) swimmer in the history of the Asian Games.

She was considered a favorite for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

However, in early February 2019, at a three-week training camp in Australia, she felt ill. On February 12, 2019, Ikee posted a message on Twitter announcing that she had been diagnosed with leukemia. In April 2019, she enrolled in the Faculty of Sports Science at Nihon University.

Ikee continued her battle against leukemia and she was permanently discharged from hospital in December 2019. She has started training again. She hopes to compete in the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Ana Carmen Gómez – ENGLISH FOR FUN 3B