Penny Oleksiak is looking to set the record straight.
The Canadian Olympian hasn’t been heard from since she received a two-year suspension from competitive swimming in late November. The suspension came as a result of missing three separate whereabouts failures.
Due to her whereabouts failures, Oleksiak was also forced to withdraw from the World Aquatics Championship in July. The 25-year-old released a brief statement claiming she was a clean athlete via Instagram during the summer, but hadn’t been heard from since.
On Tuesday, that changed.
For the first time since her scandal came to light, Oleksiak joined CBC’s Devin Heroux and once again strongly denied ever using performance-enhancing drugs.
“No,” Oleksiak said when asked if she’s ever cheated. “I think it’s definitely something that the picture is kind of painted that way, because people are like, one, a whereabouts violation, which is what happened to me, gets automatically put under an automatic doping violation.
“It’s never been me to do performance-enhancing drugs or even think about doing performance-enhancing drugs. I’ve always been a clean athlete my whole career. It’s something I’ve always very strongly believed in.”
Oleksiak also explained that despite her whereabouts violations, she was still being tested on several occasions, both at home and at competitions. Nonetheless, Canada’s most decorated female Olympian is aware that this has tainted her image.
“Genuine mistake, is all I can really chalk it up to,” Oleksiak said. “At the same time, it is frustrating knowing that I have that responsibility and that I wasn’t able to uphold it to the standard that I really would.”
Oleksiak went on to explain that as an athlete, she’s required to fill her daily schedule out on an app months in advance. She, and all other athletes of her calibre, are expected to designate an hour where they are available for a random drug test on any given day.
“You have to fill out where you’re sleeping every night,” Oleksiak explained. “Just to have an hour every day where you are going to be where you say you are. Ideally, they want you to update it a minimum 24 hours before if you do want something changed.
“I had one time where I just decided to go to training in the morning instead of the afternoon. That day, they happened to come when I went to training that morning.”
Oleksiak admitted that she did briefly wonder if her career was over following her two-year ban. That mindset has since shifted, as she believes she has more big races ahead, and has her sights set on competing at the 2028 Summer Olympics.
“I’m so excited to be able to show Canadians, and even the world, where I really am at. I am at the best point in my career, while still being at the worst point of my career, essentially. All I can do is just get stronger, get faster. That’s all I’m really striving towards at this point.”
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