7-time Olympic medallist Oleksiak leads Canadian women's charge into 100m medley relay final

If you're among the Canadian population wondering where Penny Oleksiak has been on the swimming scene at the Paris Olympics, you should no longer be concerned.

The country's most decorated athlete with seven Olympic medals showed up in a big way early Saturday at La Defense Arena in Nanterre, France.

Oleksiak delivered a spectacular 52.93-second freestyle leg to anchor the Canadian women to a heat win in three minutes 56.10 seconds, 3-10ths faster than the United States and trailing only Australia (3:54.81).

"I'm just so happy, I feel really good," Oleksiak told Devin Heroux of CBC Sports post-race.

"It's been a long week building up to this. Everyone's like, 'Where are you?' but here I am now, and I'm excited to do something tomorrow [in the final]."

The 24-year-old Toronto native competed with Mary-Sophie Harvey, Sophie Angus and Ingrid Wilm, leading the team into Sunday's final at 1:32 p.m. ET.

WATCH | Oleksiak races sensational freestyle in medley relay heats:

Three years ago at the Tokyo Olympics, she raced to bronze with Kylie Masse, Maggie Mac Neil and Sydney Pickrem in 3:52.60.

In between, Oleksiak dealt with two knee surgeries and a shoulder injury that limited her ability to train and compete.

She also moved to Mission Viejo, Calif., in 2023 to join a group of international pro swimmers coached by Jeff Julian.

Oleksiak didn't qualify for an individual event in Paris after failing to secure a spot in the 100 free. At a June meet in Rome, Oleksiak needed to swim below the 53.61 Olympic A qualifying standard but went 53.77 in the B Final.

"For the first time at this Olympics, I'm going to have that little bit of alleviated pressure, because I think when you're on a relay [team] and you're surrounded by other