Tokyo Olympics: as Japan struggles to contain coronavirus, pressure builds on athletes to withdraw

Swimmer Rikako Ikee, who qualified for the Japanese team two years after being diagnosed with leukaemia, addressed calls for her to quit over the weekend

Support for the Olympics has been undermined by Japan’s slow vaccine roll-out and the fact that infection rates in Tokyo have not declined

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Japanese swimmer Rikako Ikee was diagnosed with leukaemia two years ago. Photo: Reuters

Published: 6:30pm, 10 May 2021Updated: 2:09pm, 11 May 2021

Rikako Ikee became a national hero in Japan when she earned a place on the country’s Olympic swimming team two years after being diagnosed with leukaemia but the 20-year-old has come under mounting pressure to quit over coronavirus concerns.

The Tokyo Olympics are scheduled to begin on July 23 but the host city’s ongoing struggle to contain the pandemic and the country’s slow vaccine roll-out have ensured the event remains hotly debated.

In a Twitter post on the weekend, Ikee addressed calls for her to step down.

“We athletes have, of course, been working hard in order to take part in the Olympics, but I think it is natural that many are calling for the games to be cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic,” she wrote.

“I share your desire to emerge from this darkness as quickly as possible, but to put that burden on the shoulders of athletes is very tough. Even if you want me to oppose the games, nothing that I say will change anything.”

Ikee also highlighted her particular health concerns.

“I have a chronic illness and, whether the games are held or not, I live every day with the anxiety [of being infected with the virus] and becoming seriously ill,” she wrote. “Myself and other athletes will accept what happens, whether the Olympics take place or not.”