Japanese teenager Ikee wins 5th gold medal at Asian Games
JAKARTA, Indonesia — Rikako Ikee is turning Jakarta’s Asian Games pool into her own golden pond. Every time she dives into the water, she comes out with another medal.
The 18-year-old Ikee did it again Thursday, swimming the butterfly leg for the Japanese team that won the women’s 4x100-meter medley relay.
The victory gave her a fifth gold and her seventh medal overall in Jakarta, leaving her in a tie for second in two of the most significant medal categories in the 67-year history of the region’s biggest multi-sports event.
Only North Korean shooter So Gin Man has tallied more at one edition, winning a total of eight medals, including seven gold, at the 1982 Asian Games.
Ikee still has one more race to come on the sixth and final day of swimming.
“I feel a bit broken and my body aches,” Ikee said. “I’m proud to be an Asian champion, but I want to achieve more.”
Ikee may get her chance. She also won four medals at last week’s Pan Pacs against m opposition from the United States, Canada and Australia and is surfacing as Japan’s great hope for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Hong Kong and Singapore also won medals in the relay but only after China and South Korea, which initially finished second and third, were disqualified for leaving the blocks too early.
The relay victory was significant because it gave Japan the slimmest of leads over China in the sport’s medal standings, which are important for both nations with the next Olympics taking place in Asia.
Shinri Shioura beat his Japanese teammate Katsumi Nakamura by a fingernail to win the men’s 100m freestyle gold in 48.71, with Nakumura clocked at 48.72, while Satomi Suzuki won the women’s 50 breaststroke in 30.03 to collect her third gold in the Indonesian capital.