Leukemia survivor Rikako Ikee approaches her past performance in the 100 butterfly at Japan's Olympic trials
There were two finals on the first day of the Japan Olympic Trials, but the highlight of the night was the women's 100m butterfly semi-final. Among those events was Rikako Ikee She scored 57.03 points and earned the top seed for Monday's final. Two-time Olympian Ikee, a leukemia survivor, has come closer to his former top time since his return.
Ikee has been training with renowned coach Michael Ball in Australia, and his efforts are clearly paying off. She will soon have the chance to solidify her spot at this summer's Paris Olympics, while focusing on breaking the 57-second barrier for the first time since her illness forced her to take time off from competition. Become.
“My goal here is obviously to qualify, but I also want to get 56 points here,” Ikee said. “Of course I want to participate in my third Olympics, but ever since I went to Australia, my desire to become the best in the world has become stronger than ever. I will get through these eight days with that in mind.''
“I said 57.3 was good enough, but deep down I thought I might be able to do 56. But today was a good semi-final to get 56 in my next race. I live every swim. I'm trying not to die. Today was a good day, but it's not my bar, so I'm not going to give up.”
The evening's finals were limited to the men's and women's 400 freestyle races, but there were no Paris qualifiers. Japan has set difficult entry criteria for the Summer Showcase. In the women's 400 freestyle, Miyu Namba edgy Waka Kobori, from 4:06.10 to 4:06.20. On the male side, Kazuki Omoto The result was 3:49.69, four seconds slower than the pace required by Paris.
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