Japanese swimmer Ikee eliminated in women’s 100m butterfly semifinal at 2024 Paris Olympics; vows revenge at next Olympics

PARIS — Swimmer Rikako Ikee failed to reach the final of the women’s 100-meter butterfly after finishing sixth in the first heat of the semi-final at the Paris Olympics on Saturday with a time of 57.79 seconds.

Ikee was 14th in the qualifying round. She was third in the semi-final halfway but slowed down and could not advance to the final. The results were different for Mizuki Hirai who swam in the same heat and advanced to the top eight.

“The race, honestly, made me feel like my efforts weren’t paying off at all,” Ikee said in an interview. Her voice cracked with emotion as she spoke, and her eyes were red from crying. The race apparently brought back memories of her years of overcoming leukemia to return to the competitive world stage.

The swimmer only competed in the relay at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. This year, she competed in an individual event for the first time since Rio de Janeiro in 2016, when she was a freshman in high school.

Given her illness, it is surprising that she returned to the global competitive stage, but Ikee’s will to compete is strong.

“In the end, it’s a world of victory and defeat, so there’s no point if you don’t win. I couldn’t do my best in the race, so that’s how it ended. I want to come back to the next Olympics, in four years, to take revenge,” Ikee said on a positive note.