Beijing time on July 28, in the women's 100-meter butterfly semifinals of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, Chinese player Zhang Yufei successfully entered the finals with the third overall score, but Japanese star Chie Rikako only swam a time of 57.79 seconds. Was eliminated in 12th place. After the game, Chijiang Lihuazi broke down and cried bitterly.
Faced with questions from Japanese reporters, Chie Rikako could no longer restrain her emotions and broke down in tears. She even questioned whether the efforts she had made to come back after falling ill were worth it. She said: "This game makes me feel that it has always been Is all the hard work in vain? After all, this is a world of victory and defeat. If we donāt win, it means nothing. In the end, we failed to exert our own strength and the game ended like this.ā Even though she was very sad, Rikako Chie still gave her. The 17-year-old junior Mizuki Hirai, who reached the women's 100-meter butterfly final with seventh place in the semi-finals, sent encouragement and wished her good performance.
Judging from Chijiang Rikako's performance, she was very dissatisfied with her performance in the women's 100-meter butterfly semifinals. In addition to breaking down and crying in front of the camera, she also sat on the sidelines feeling very lonely. Many opponents came forward to offer comfort. To be able to recover from such a serious illness of leukemia and return to the competition, and to stand on the stage of the Olympic semifinals, is already a very remarkable achievement. After the 50-meter butterfly medal ceremony at last year's Hangzhou Asian Games, Zhang Yufei, who won the gold medal, and Chijiang Lihuazi, who won the bronze medal, hugged each other and cried on the sidelines. The two agreed to enter the finals together to win medals at the Paris Olympics, but as Chi Jiang Rikako was eliminated early and declared ruined.
Rikako Chie, who debuted as a talented girl, won six gold medals at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games, almost single-handedly equalizing the number of gold medals won by the Chinese and Japanese swimming teams. However, just a few months later, news came that she was suffering from leukemia. After a long period of treatment and recovery, Chie Rikako returned to the competition, but her performance was far behind that before she fell ill. Even the Japanese media believed that it would be difficult for her to return to her peak level. But Chijiang Rikako is not willing to give up. She has also set her sights on the Los Angeles Olympics, looking forward to another peak showdown with Zhang Yufei four years later.
