Rikako Ikee
FILE - In this Feb. 24, 2021, file photo, people walk past posters to promote the Olympic Games scheduled to start in the summer in Tokyo. Frustration is mounting over Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s request that people cooperate while he pushes to hold the Olympics in just over two months. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara, File)
Frustration in Japan as leader pushes Olympics despite virus

By Mari Yamaguchi May. 12, 2021 05:57 AM EDT

Japanese woman athletes compete during their 100 meter race at an athletics test event for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Games at National Stadium in Tokyo, Sunday, May 9, 2021. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)
Two Tokyo Olympics: Inside and outside the National Stadium

By Stephen Wade And Yuri Kageyama May. 09, 2021 06:54 AM EDT

People wearing protective masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus ride bicycles near the Japan National Stadium, where opening ceremony and many other events are planned for the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Tuesday, April 6, 2021, in Tokyo. Many preparations are still up in the air as organizers try to figure out how to hold the postponed games in the middle of a pandemic. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
AP Photos: Things starting to stir at Tokyo Olympic venues

By Stephen Wade Apr. 12, 2021 10:05 PM EDT

Japanese swimmer Rikako Ikee celebrates after winning the women's 100-meter butterfly at the Japan’s national championships at Tokyo Aquatics Centre in Tokyo, Sunday, April 4, 2021. Ikee on Sunday qualified for the Tokyo Olympics just two years after the was diagnosed with leukemia. (Kyodo News via AP)
Rikako Ikee qualifies for Tokyo Olympic after leukemia

By Stephen Wade Apr. 04, 2021 06:06 AM EDT

A woman walks by the diving platform at Tokyo Aquatics Center after its grand opening ceremony Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020, in Tokyo. The Tokyo 2020 organizing committee held the grand opening ceremony Saturday at the aquatics center, planned to host Olympic artistic swimming, diving and swimming and Paralympics swimming events in 2021. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Olympic swim venue ready and now comes hard part: COVID-19

By Stephen Wade Oct. 24, 2020 01:19 AM EDT

Japanese swim star Rikako Ikee reacts after a women’s 50-meter freestyle at a local race meet, Saturday, Aug. 29, 2020, at Tokyo Tatsumi International Swimming Center in Tokyo. Ikee, who revealed in February last year she had leukemia, returned to competitive swimming on Saturday. The meet was organized by the Tokyo Swimming Association to give athletes a chance to compete following the cancellation of so many other meets this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.(Kyodo News via AP)
Japanese swimmer Rikako Ikee back after leukemia treatment

By Koji Ueda And Stephen Wade Aug. 29, 2020 04:39 AM EDT

FILE - In this July 23, 2020, file photo, Japanese swimming athlete Rikako Ikee holding the lantern containing Olympic flame poses during a photo session at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo. Japanese swim sta Ikee will compete on Saturday, Aug. 29, in a meet for the first time since being treated for leukemia. Ikee won six gold medals in the Asian Games two years ago in Jakarta, Indonesia, and would have been a favorite in several events going into the now-postponed Tokyo Olympics. (Du Xiaoyi/Pool Photo via AP, File)
Swimmer Rikako Ikee back in pool after leukemia treatment

Aug. 28, 2020 12:12 AM EDT

FILE - In this July 23, 2020, file photo, Japanese swimming athlete Rikako Ikee holding the lantern containing Olympic flame poses during a photo session at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo. Friday, July 31, would have been the seventh full day of the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympics; almost the halfway point. The focus is now entirely on how to pull off the games next year, in what still might be the middle of a pandemic. (Du Xiaoyi/Pool Photo via AP, File)
Heat! What heat? Tokyo Olympics would have been on cool side

By Stephen Wade Jul. 30, 2020 10:03 PM EDT