Penny Oleksiak, Olympic Champion, Accepts Two-Year Ban for Whereabouts Violation
Olympic champion Penny Oleksiak has accepted a two-year eligibility ban.
The most decorated Canadian Olympian in the pool withdrew from the 2025 World Championships because of an ongoing case about her failure to reveal her whereabouts for testing, the International Testing Agency (ITA) announced on Tuesday, Nov. 25.
The International Testing Agency confirmed the violation, stating that Oleksiak had committed three whereabouts violations between October 2025 and June 2025.
The World Anti-Doping Code defines a Whereabouts failure as any combination of three missed tests or filing failures in a 12-month period.
Now the decision has been made official and Oleksiak has agreed to the two-year suspension that retroactively dates back to July 15.
“I want to emphasize that this Whereabouts case does not involve any banned substance; it’s about whether I updated my information correctly,” Oleksiak wrote when she withdrew from worlds. “I am and always have been a clean athlete and will be making no further comment at this time.”
Oleksiak, 25, has seven Olympic medals, most in Canadian history. Her 2016 gold medal in the 100 freestyle was her big moment at age 16 (tying with Simone Manuel).
Her last competition was the 2025 Canadian Trials, which ended June 12. She qualified in the 50 free (24.70) and 100 free (54.03) for the world championship roster. Then when the whereabouts case began, she withdrew from worlds.
She will be eligible again on June 14, 2027.