She heard her No. 10 being called, tapped hands with a teammate who was leaving the field, and ran into position for Brazil, a smile on her face.
She made a quick sign of the cross, rubbed her hands and held them up with fingers splayed to receive the ball. And then Raquel Kochhann nodded: Play on.
That also seems to be her life motto. A deep desire to chase her dreams has seen Kochhann overcome breast cancer, surgery, and months of follow-up treatment to return to the highest level of rugby sevens and have a shot at her third Olympics.
After more than 1 1/2 years on the sidelines, initially with an injured knee and then for her cancer recovery, Kochhann reappeared for Brazil in January at the world sevens series event in Perth. She helped Brazil reach the quarterfinals in Los Angeles, played in Hong Kong and in the series finale in Madrid.
Now she's preparing for the , where women's sevens kicks off July 28.
The most difficult person to convince she鈥檇 be ready in time for Paris was her doctor 鈥渂ecause of the complexity of the case," Kochhann says.
鈥淗e always supported me, but he was apprehensive and careful,鈥� the 31-year-old Brazilian tells The Associated Press. 鈥淭o this day, his heart is in his mouth whenever I take some kind of hit.鈥�
Heavy hits are a regular occurrence in the condensed, fast-paced version of rugby known as sevens (because of the number of players on each team).
Upper-body collisions are frequent when players are either carrying the ball or tackling, which can make doctors nervous.
Not Kochhann. She believes she's done the work in the gym and in her recovery to prepare her body for anything the sport can throw at her. She also received medical clearance from the team.
In a social media post in late 2023 to play, Kochhann urged followers to "play every game like it鈥檚 your last.鈥�
鈥淭his phrase sounds clich茅, but we don鈥檛 know what tomorrow will bring, what if we don鈥檛 have another opportunity?鈥� she posted. 鈥淥ur fate is unpredictable. An ACL injury in May 2022 turned out to be a lengthy breast cancer treatment. A lot of learning and personal growth.鈥�
Rugby roots
A dedicated soccer player as a young athlete with ambitions of wearing the famous Brazil jersey, Kochhann first tried rugby at the age of 19. She was instantly converted.
She debuted for Brazil in 2014, won a bronze medal at the Pan American Games the following year, and was there in 2016 in the host team when made its Olympic debut at Rio de Janeiro.
Her mother couldn鈥檛 attend the Olympic matches because she was dealing with breast cancer herself, but Kochhann reveled in the support from her sister, and thousands of new fans. The Tokyo Olympics were an altogether different experience as spectators were banned because of COVID-19 restrictions.
But she was determined and good enough to earn another Olympic experience, even when, while rehabbing her knee injury, she underwent scans for a lump in her breast and discovered it was malignant.
鈥淐ancer wasn鈥檛 a shock, given my family鈥檚 medical history and genetics 鈥� and it could have happened at any moment in my life,鈥� Kochhann said in a matter-of-fact interview for . 鈥淚 went through a preventive bilateral mastectomy and moved to the oncology department. I had to stop my career and went through chemotherapy to prevent the further spread of cancer.鈥�
All the while, health experts were telling her to stay physically active.
鈥淓ven if the therapy would bring me down physically,鈥� she says, "I kept believing I could beat this ... and I did.鈥�
Whatever transpires between now and late July, Kochhann wants her inspiring comeback to be a message 鈥渢hat everything in life always has a good side and a bad side.鈥�
鈥淥ur recovery and how we live life will depend on which side we choose to look at. I could be sad, upset about the injury and then the cancer, but that would use a lot of energy, and I chose to focus that energy on recovery. Always seeing an opportunity in every difficulty.鈥�
One of a kind
The easiest person to convince she could return to rugby was Brazil coach Will Broderick 鈥渨ho, like me, was eager to be able to train me and see me back on the field," Kochhann says.
Broderick, who has been coaching the Brazil women's sevens team since just before the Tokyo Olympics, felt like he barely had the right to assess Kochhann's comeback.
鈥淏ecause it鈥檚 just so far above what you could imagine a human being be able to do,鈥� Broderick says in a telephone interview with the AP. "We witnessed it firsthand 鈥� she trained hard through chemotherapy, through radiotherapy. She was at the training center every day.
鈥淚f she wasn鈥檛 training, she was at the training sessions, helping with the filming and coaching. I鈥檝e never seen anything like it in my life."
Broderick always thought his playmaker would return but acknowledged there's always the lingering doubt.
鈥淭here鈥檚 so many things that could go wrong but she is probably one of the most incredible people I鈥檝e ever met," he says. "To be honest, it鈥檚 phenomenal. Incredible. Then she comes back to train and how can I tell her 鈥� she needs to push harder, work. Who am I to say that?"
But Kochhann was willing to push harder. The tradeoff was Kochhann becoming an inspirational presence for other players.
鈥淪he鈥檚 matured all the way through and she doesn鈥檛 let the little things bother her too much anymore, like refereeing decisions or little errors," Broderick says. 鈥淪he鈥檚 grown in that sense and how she handles the little setbacks because I guess that her perspective is completely different.鈥�
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AP Olympics:
John Pye, The Associated Press
