OLEKSIAK Penny

General
TAKING A BREAK
She competed at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, QLD, Australia, just days after the death of her grandmother. After the Games she took some time away from major competitions so that she could focus on "being a teenager" and take a break from the pressure. She returned to international competitions in mid-2019. "It [taking a break] helped to get myself mentally prepared for another few years of really hard training for the next Olympics [in 2020]. Taking a break was worth it." (macleans.ca, 23 Dec 2019; cbc.ca, 15 Jul 2019; torontolife.com, 18 Dec 2018)

DEALING WITH PRESSURE
She says that she learnt to deal with the pressure of success after the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. "I don't really put any pressure on myself and neither do my family or friends. I think it's just [that] I don't want to disappoint Canada, which sounds weird and sounds really cheesy, but going into the next Olympics [in 2020], I don't want people to be disappointed in me if I don't do as well as they think I'm going to do. I think there's definitely that little voice in the back of my mind that helps me when I'm doubting myself in certain races where it's just like, 'Okay, you did this at the [2016] Olympics and you did this at another meet. You can definitely do it here'. Before Rio I was just excited to go and cheer on Team Canada, but now there's almost this pressure on my shoulders. I've taught myself over the last few years to deal with that pressure and use everything I did in Rio as something to empower me." (ctvnews.com, 14 Jan 2020; cbc.ca, 15 Jul 2019)

POST-RIO STRUGGLES
She was age 16 when she won four medals at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, and says the next two years were difficult reconciling her fame with her everyday life as a teenager. "It's weird growing up and having to deal with all this stuff with swimming and then also all my normal teenager problems. I have this other side of me where I'm a swimmer and I have to act professional all the time. I guess I did stop enjoying swimming for a bit [after Rio], but it wasn't ever a thought in my mind that I wanted to quit it. I always knew I wanted to keep swimming, but there were definitely days where it was tough to get up and go to the pool." (macleans.ca, 23 Dec 2019; cbc.ca, 15 Jul 2019; torontolife.com, 18 Dec 2018)

RETURNING TO RIO
She had already left the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and had spent a day back home in Toronto, ON, Canada when the Canadian Olympic Committee called her to tell her she had been chosen to be their flag bearer for the closing ceremony of the 2016 Games. "They called me a day later saying, 'You're the flag bearer, you need to fly back tomorrow morning'. I was like, 'Okay, fine', so then I flew back." (cbc.ca, 15 Jul 2019)

At the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro she became the first Canadian from any sport to win four medals at a single summer Olympic Games, and the first female Canadian swimmer to win four career Olympic medals, equalling male Canadian swimmer Victor Davis who won four from 1984 to 1988. (SportsDeskOnline, 17 Feb 2020)

At the 2016 Games she also became the youngest female Canadian athlete from any sport to win a gold medal at the summer Olympic Games when she triumphed in the 100m freestyle at age 16 years and 59 days. (SportsDeskOnline, 17 Feb 2020)

When she and teammate Taylor Ruck won bronze as part of the Canadian women's 4x100m freestyle relay team at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, they became the first athletes born in the 21st century to win an Olympic medal for any nation. (SportsDeskOnline, 12 May 2021)