Canadian swimmer and Olympic gold medalist Penny Oleksiak has been banned from competition until 2027 for repeatedly failing to report her whereabouts as required under anti-doping rules, officials announced Tuesday.
The International Testing Agency (ITA) said in a press release that Oleksiak has accepted the penalty for 3 whereabouts failures inside a 12-month period between October 2024 and June 2025.
“The athlete didn’t contest the (anti-doping rule violation) and agreed with the results proposed by the ITA. Accordingly, the case was resolved through an acceptance of consequences,” the agency said.
Phoebe Balshin, a representative for Oleksiak, told Global News in an email that the athlete wouldn’t be commenting on the case, but confirmed it didn’t involve drug use.
“Penny is and has all the time been a clean athlete. She stays committed to her goals and appears forward to competing again once her suspension is complete,” Balshin said.
In keeping with the ITA’s statement, any competitive results Oleksiak obtained from July 16 onward can be disqualified, “including forfeiture of medals, points and prizes.” Her ban can be lifted on July 14, 2027.
A Swimming Canada spokesperson clarified to Global News that the ban can be lifted by the point the Canadian Olympic swimming trials are held in June 2028, giving Oleksiak the possibility to qualify for the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles that can be held in July.
Get breaking National news
For news impacting Canada and around the globe, join for breaking news alerts delivered on to you once they occur.
The national swimming body said it respects the ITA’s decision.
“We’re committed to the enforcement and support of all anti-doping rules as outlined within the Canadian Anti-Doping Program and thru World Aquatics and the World Anti-Doping Agency,” Swimming Canada CEO Suzanne Paulins said in a press release.
“While we accept Penny’s explanation these were inadvertent errors and she or he has not used banned substances, anti-doping regulations are in place to make sure a level playing field for all athletes. We’ll miss Penny on the national team and hope to see her back within the pool when she is eligible.”
A whereabouts case is an anti-doping rule violation that may affect an athlete’s eligibility even in the event that they have never taken a banned substance. The World Anti-Doping Code defines a whereabouts failure as any combination of three missed tests or filing failures in a 12-month period.
Athletes who’re members of the “registered testing pool,” which is the best tier of athlete testing, are required to report an accurate and up-to-date filing of their whereabouts in any respect times. That is in order that they may be drug tested at any time and anyplace with no advance notice.
In keeping with World Aquatics, if an athlete within the testing pool submits “late, inaccurate or incomplete whereabouts that result in (them) being unavailable for testing, (they) may receive a Filing Failure.”
Oleksiak withdrew from the World Aquatics Championships in July and accepted a provisional suspension on the time.
In an Instagram post on the time that was then deleted, Oleksiak asserted “I’m and all the time have been a clean athlete” and that the case “doesn’t involve any banned substance; it’s about whether I updated my information appropriately.”
The 25-year-old from Toronto is Canada’s most decorated female Olympian.
She has won seven Olympic medals — one gold, two silver, 4 bronze — over her profession, becoming the primary Canadian to win 4 medals in the identical Summer Games on the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.
—With files from the Canadian Press
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.