LIFESTYLE HEALTH Olympian Maia Shibutani ‘Doing Well’ After Past Kidney Tumor, Reveals 2024 Olympic Plans (Exclusive)
Maia, the 2018 bronze medalist in the ice dancing and team event with her brother Alex, had a malignant tumor removed from her kidney in 2019
Team USA Olympian Maia Shibutani is living her life to the fullest, four-and-a-half years after she discovered a 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 very much appreciated but I’m happy to share that I’m healthy.”
Back in 2019, Maia — who won the ice dance and team bronze medal with her brother Alex, 33, at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games — revealed that a tumor she had removed from her kidney was cancerous.
“I got my pathology report back — 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 previously said that doctors put the odds of the mass being malignant at 60/40.
“This wasn’t the news I was hoping for, but I am beyond thankful that it was detected early and that my surgery went well,” she continued, sharing at the time that “no further treatment is required at this time.”
After the procedure, Maia detailed that her recovery was “very painful” and “extremely challenging.”
But today, Maia tells PEOPLE she’s “doing great” and that she and Alex — affectionately dubbed the “Shib Sibs” — have a very busy summer ahead, including a trip to Paris for the 2024 Olympics,
“We’ll be in Paris this summer for the Olympics,” Alex said. “I’ll be a photographer there on the ground and Maia will be doing a variety of different media roles.”
“It’s our first summer Olympics!” Maia chimed in excitedly.
“Paris is an incredible city and we’re just looking to cheer on Team USA athletes and all the other athletes on that stage,” Alex added.
Speaking of the Olympic stage, the Shibutanis joined fellow Winter Olympians Kristi Yamaguchi, Chloe Kim and Apolo Anton Ohno, and Paralympian Scout Bassett at the Gold Gala to honor three members of Team USA who won team gold at the 2022 Beijing Olympics: Nathan Chen, Vincent Zhou and Madison Chock.
“It was a wonderful night of celebrating culture, achievement, community, and allyship,” the brother and sister duo wrote on Instagram after the Gold Gala, which recognized Asian/Pacific Islander/Native Hawaiian excellence in entertainment, sports, business and more.
The Shibutanis will be highlighting even more Asian excellence in their second book, due out next Spring.
“It’s called Incredible: Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Who Changed the World,” Maia shared. “It’ll highlight 38 previous and contemporary trailblazers.”
