Coming back from cancer, Brazil rugby sevens star Raquel Kochhann ready to tackle her third Olympics

By JOHN PYE
AP Sports Writer

A breast cancer diagnosis, surgery and months of follow-up treatment didn’t shake Raquel Kochhann’s desire to return to rugby sevens and have a shot at a third Olympics. The 31-year-old Brazilian says the most difficult person to convince she’d be ready for a return in time for the Paris Games was her doctor. She says, “His heart is in his mouth whenever I take some kind of hit.” Kochhann made her Olympic debut on home soil at Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and played again in Tokyo. She continued training while undergoing cancer therapy and returned in January to push her selection case for Paris.