Description:
Rikako Ikee (池江璃花子, Ikee Rikako, /ˈriːkəkoʊ ɪˈkeɪ/, Japanese: [ikee ɾiꜜkako]; born 4 July 2000) is a Japanese competitive swimmer. She is the national record holder in the 50-meter freestyle and the 100-meter butterfly, and the junior world record holder in the 50-meter freestyle and 50-meter butterfly long-course events, and the 50- and 100-meter butterfly, and 100-meter individual medley in short course.
At the 2018 Asian Games, Ikee won six gold and two silver medals, also becoming the first female athlete to win the Most Valuable Player award at the Asian Games.
At 14 years of age, competing at
Rikako Ikee (池江璃花子, Ikee Rikako, /ˈriːkəkoʊ ɪˈkeɪ/, Japanese: [ikee ɾiꜜkako]; born 4 July 2000) is a Japanese competitive swimmer. She is the national record holder in the 50-meter freestyle and the 100-meter butterfly, and the junior world record holder in the 50-meter freestyle and 50-meter butterfly long-course events, and the 50- and 100-meter butterfly, and 100-meter individual medley in short course.
At the 2018 Asian Games, Ikee won six gold and two silver medals, also becoming the first female athlete to win the Most Valuable Player award at the Asian Games.
At 14 years of age, competing at the 2014 Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships held in August with pool swimming contested at Kihei Aquatic Center in Hawaii, United States. Ikee won the bronze medal in the 100-metre butterfly, a silver medal in the 4×100 meter medley relay, and bronze medals in the 4×100 meter freestyle relay and the 4×200 meter freestyle relay.
2016 Summer Olympics:
At the Olympic trials in Tokyo in April, Ikee slightly improved her national record in the 100 m butterfly to 57.55. Ikee qualified to swim in four individual events (50 m freestyle, 100 m freestyle, 200 m freestyle, and 100 m butterfly) and three relay events (4 × 100 m freestyle relay, 4 × 200 m freestyle relay, and 4 × 100 m medley relay) at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
In the heats of the 100 m butterfly, she broke her national record with a time of 57.27. In the semifinals she further improved this to 57.05, and in the final again, finishing 6th in 56.86. She finished 21st in the 200 m freestyle.
2018 Asian Games:
At the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia, Ikee became the first swimmer to win six gold medals at a single Asian Games. She also won two silvers. After returning to Japan, Ikee learned that she had won the Most Valuable Player award for the tournament, the first for a female athlete at the Games. She then returned to Indonesia to collect the trophy and prize money.
2019 Leukemia:
Ikee felt ill during a three-week training camp in Australia early February, and left early to return to Japan to be examined by medical staff. On 12 February, Ikee posted a message on X (formerly known as Twitter), announcing that she has been diagnosed with leukemia.
2021 Tokyo Olympics Qualifier:
Two years after her Leukemia diagnosis, Ikee qualified for the 4×100 medley relay in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, by winning the 100-meter butterfly event in the Japanese Olympic trials, with a time of 57.77 seconds. She helped the team reach the finals of the 4×100 medley relay.
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Tags: Japanese (2), 2024 Olympics (1), Japan (1), 2028 Olympics (1), Three-time Olympian (1), Junior World Record Holder (1), National Record Holder (1), 1st Female Athlete To Win "Most Valuable Player" Award (1), World Aquatics Championships (1), FINA (1), World Junior Swimming Championships (1), Competitive Swimmer (1), Thin Fit (1), 2016 Olympics (1), 2020 Olympics (1), Leukemia Survivor (1), Freestyle (1), Skinny (1), Swimmer (1), Olympic Games (1)
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