TOKYO — Kyoko Ishikawa was a back-packing Japanese student in Barcelona in 1992 when she says a “miracle happened.”
She managed to buy a ticket to the opening ceremony of Spain’s historic Olympics.
Since then she has attended every Summer Olympics. Ishikawa has become famous as an unofficial “International Olympic Cheerleader.”
She relishes joining in with fans from everywhere to cheer for their athletes.
That will be harder at this year's Tokyo Olympics with fans from abroad being barred from attending.
She says she is “very disappointed” with that but will carry on trying to generate goodwill.
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