Team USA Olympian Maia Shibutani is living her life to the fullest, four and a half years after discovering that the tumor she had removed from her kidney was malignant.
“I’m healthy and doing well,” the 29-year-old told PEOPLE exclusively at the Gold Gala on Saturday, May 11. “Everyone’s love and concern is greatly appreciated, but I am happy to share with you that I am healthy.”
Back in 2019, Maia — who won a bronze medal in ice dance and a team medal at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games with her brother Alex, 33 — revealed that the tumor she had removed from her kidney was cancerous.
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“I received my pathology report — the tumor that was successfully removed on Saturday was unfortunately malignant (cancer). (SDH)-deficient renal cell carcinoma,” the Olympian wrote on Instagram on Dec. 20, 2019. The tumor was initially discovered in October after Maia was hospitalized for a stomach virus. She had previously said that doctors had a 60/40 chance that the tumor was malignant.
“This was not the news I was hoping for, but I am extremely grateful that it was caught early and that my surgery went well,” she continued, adding at the time that “no further treatment is required at this time.”
After the procedure, Maia described her recovery as “very painful” and “extremely challenging.”
Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani at the 3rd Annual Golden Gala on May 11, 2024.
Gregg DeGuire/Variety via Getty
But today, Maia tells PEOPLE that she’s doing “great” and that she and Alex — affectionately known as the “Shib Sibs” — have a very busy summer ahead of them, including a trip to Paris for the 2024 Olympics.
“We’ll be in Paris this summer for the Olympics,” Alex said. “I’ll be the photographer there on the field, and Maia will do various media roles.”
“This is our first Summer Olympic Games!” Maia answered excitedly.
“Paris is an amazing city and we just want to cheer on the Team USA athletes and all the other athletes on that stage,” added Alex.
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Speaking of the Olympic stage, the Shibutanis joined fellow Winter Olympians Kristi Yamaguchi, Chloe Kim and Apol Anton Ohn and Paralympic Scout Bassett at the Gold Gala to honor the three members of Team USA who won team gold at the 2022 Beijing Olympics: Nathan Chen, Vincent Zhou, and Madison Chock.
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Team USA’s Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani compete in the free dance at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, Korea.
Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press via AP
“It was a wonderful night celebrating culture, achievement, community and alliance,” the brother-sister duo wrote on Instagram after the Golden Gala, which recognized Asian/Pacific Islander/Native Hawaiian excellence in entertainment, sports, business and more a lot of it.
Shibutanis will highlight Asian excellence even more in his second book, due out next spring.
“It’s called Incredible: Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Who Changed the World” Maia shared. “It will highlight 38 previous and contemporary pioneers.”
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education