Jakarta: For someone carrying a nation’s hopes and dreams on her shoulders, Japan’s teenage swim sensation Rikako Ikee is a picture of calm.
After scooping a record six gold medals at the Asian Games here, the 18-year-old knows she will come under intense pressure to deliver at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. But far from viewing her Jakarta success as a burden, Ikee said Saturday it will spur her on.
“Pressure for me is something I thrive on,” Ikee told this agency. “There will be a lot of Japanese fans cheering for me at the Tokyo Olympics in my home city and that’s going to give me great strength. The more fans that come, the stronger I’ll be. When it comes to swimming, I just really hate to lose.”
It gives me confidence knowing I can beat my Asian rivals. Now the plan is to become a World Champion
Rikako Ikee
Ikee stormed to a historic sixth swimming win in the women’s 50 metres freestyle here Friday, becoming the first woman in any sport to snare six golds at a single Asian Games.
Japan’s new swimming pin-up shrugged it off as ‘a pretty ordinary day’, demonstrating the sort of sang-froid that will strike fear into her rivals.
“I had targeted five gold medals so I was happy to tick that box first,” said Ikee, who captured titles in the 50m butterfly, 100m fly, 50m free, 100m free, 4x100m free and the 4x100m medley.
“I had some tough days last year so to come back like this is amazing,” added Japan’s golden girl, who was devastated at finishing sixth in her strongest event, the 100m butterfly, at last year’s World Championships.
All of her Jakarta titles came with a Games record, but Ikee has loftier ambitions. “You have to do what you have to do to win races but some of those times weren’t special,” she shrugged. “I can definitely swim faster.”