Canadian swimmer and Olympic champion. Penny Oleksiak she has been suspended until 2027 for repeatedly failing to report her whereabouts as required by anti-doping rules, officials said Tuesday.
The International Testing Agency (ITA) said in a statement that Oleksiak accepted the fine for three whereabouts violations over a 12-month period from October 2024 to June 2025.
“The athlete did not contest (the anti-doping rule violation) and accepted the consequences proposed by the ITA. Accordingly, the case was resolved by accepting the consequences,” the agency said.
According to the statement, any competitive results obtained by Oleksiak beginning on July 16 will be disqualified, “including forfeiture of medals, points and prizes.” Her suspension will be lifted on July 14, 2027.
A whereabouts case is an anti-doping rule violation that can affect an athlete's eligibility even if they have never taken a prohibited substance. The World Anti-Doping Code defines a whereabouts failure as any combination of three missed tests or failure to file within a 12-month period.
Athletes who are members of a “registered testing pool,” which is the highest level of testing for athletes, are required to provide accurate and up-to-date whereabouts information at all times. This is so that they can undergo drug testing anytime, anywhere without prior notice.
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According to World Aquatics, if an athlete in the testing pool provides “late, inaccurate or incomplete whereabouts information that makes (them) unavailable for testing, (they) may be denied information.”
Oleksiak withdrew from the FINA World Championships in July and accepted a temporary suspension at the time.
The 25-year-old Toronto resident is Canada's most decorated Olympic champion.
She won seven Olympic medals during her career – one gold, two silver and four bronze, becoming the first Canadian to win four medals in the same Summer Games at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
More to come…
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