Kane County Reporter

A Geneva-native competed at this year’s Tokyo Olympic Games after having already beaten cancer.

Kevin McDowell took the silver medal in the triathlon mixed relay last week and also placed sixth in the men’s triathlon.

The sixth-place finish in the men’s triathlon was the best finish for an American male since the event debuted at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Considering what McDowell has had to endure over the course of the past decade, making the Olympics is an achievement in itself.

McDowell was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 2011 and overcame the cancer to not only make the Olympics, but become a seven-time World Triathlon Cup medalist and the 2017 USA Triathlon Elite national champion.

“My whole world was upside down where I was actually, instead of focusing on trying to win the world title, I was fighting for my life to beat cancer,” he previously told NBC 5.

With the help of his doctors, he was able to formulate a game plan to receive adequate treatment and leaned on competitive drive to help him regain his health.  

"This one lady who had been going through treatment, she was almost done with it, she learned that it was my first one and could tell I was nervous and she came to me and said, 'Hey listen, live your life as normal as possible. Don't sit around and (contemplate) poor me this. Don't think of all the things you can't do right now, but change your mindset to what you can do,'" he told NBC 5. "I wish I knew that lady today because I took that to heart and I was like, 'OK, you're right. I'm going to look at everything I can do while I'm battling cancer.'"

After his chemo treatments finished, McDowell said it took some time to regain his stride for competition and nearly quit the sport in 2018 before deciding to give it a go again.

McDowell said that with the support of his family he was able to give the sport another try and “boy, am I glad they said that.”