Japanese swimmer Rikako Ikee earned an Olympic berth in the women’s 100-meter butterfly by finishing second in the event’s final at the qualifying trails Monday.
Seventeen-year-old Mizuki Hirai won in 56.91 seconds and Ikee clocked 57.30 at Tokyo Aquatics Centre, beating the qualifying time of 57.34 set by the Japan Swimming Federation.
Swimmers Rikako Ikee (left) and Mizuki Hirai celebrate after earning spots at the Paris Olympics in the women’s 100-meter butterfly at the qualifying trials on Monday, at Tokyo Aquatics Centre.
| Kyodo
Shiho Matsumoto finished third, 0.01 behind Ikee. The top two finishers meeting each event’s qualifying time go to the Paris Olympics.
Ikee, who will be 24 years old in early July, is set for her third Olympic appearance and first in an individual event since the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.
She swam in three relay events at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 after being treated for leukemia.
“I’m so happy that I can’t describe in words,” Ikee said. “It was so close. I just swam believing in myself.”
“I know I need to have a good first half (of the race) to compete with the world’s top swimmers. I’ll continue to train hard.”
Hirai, who will be making her Olympic debut, said, “I’ve admired Ikee-san for a long time. I wanted to make the Olympics with her. I’ll try to rewrite my personal best time to get a medal in Paris.”
In other events on the second day of the trials, Tomoyuki Matsushita won the men’s 400-meter individual medley in 4 minutes, 10.04 seconds to qualify for the Olympics.
Daiya Seto failed to meet the qualifying time of 4:10.63, finishing second in 4:10.84.