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Victorian rower Jean Mitchell has overcome a brain tumour to compete in the women's four in Paris, saying she still struggles with her balance and hearing.
Having beaten brain cancer to achieve her dream of competing in the Olympics, Australian rower Jean Mitchell is already a winner.
The 24-year-old Victorian is part of the women's four in Paris who will look to emulate the gold medal triumph at the last Games in Tokyo.
It's a new-look crew with Mitchell joining fellow debutante Lily Alton along with Olympia Aldersey and Molly Goodman, who are competing at their third Olympics.
At 16, Mitchell underwent surgery to remove a tumour followed by radiation and chemotherapy and was off the water for two years before fighting her way back to earn selection for Paris.
"It's so incredible, I'm so excited to be here, I've been looking forward to this for a long time and I didn't think it would be possible for a while," Mitchell said from the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium where she will compete for the first time on Sunday.
"I've just been working away the past few years and have finally gotten to a point where I'm fit and healthy and good enough to make the team and that's where we are now."
Mitchell had to start back at "square one", spending just one minute on the rowing machine when she got back into training.
She still has issues with her balance, hearing and tiredness and requires six-monthly MRI scans to ensure the cancer hasn't returned.
But she didn't expect any different treatment to her teammates.
"I don't want my path to be easier than everyone else's otherwise I will feel a bit sad about that, I just like to get on with it."
Alton said Mitchell was an inspiration for their crew but not just for her cancer battle.
"Just hearing Jean's story is incredibly inspiring but also just having the privilege to be able to row with someone who is like who she is as a person," said Queenslander Alton.
"The entire team loves her and everyone supports her and gets around her and she's just the biggest asset I think and I believe to not only our boat but just the team within itself, we're so lucky to have her."
Alton, 25, sits in front of Mitchell in the boat and said her crewmate was always in her ear with encouragement, or jokes.
Matching the gold medal feat of Tokyo will be a tough task.
Aldersey and Goodman bring experience as they were part of the women's eight in Rio and Tokyo before shifting into the four.
But the new four won silver in the most recent World Cup in Poland, which was their first race together.
"Not everyone was there that we'll be competing against here however, I do think that it was a good confidence boost for us," Alton, 25, said.
"Everyone is extremely competitive in this field so the only thing that we can do is just focus on moving the boat as fast as we can and just trying to lay out our best race together. "
