Penny Oleksiak banned from competition until 2027 after accepting penalty for whereabouts failures

Swimmer Penny Oleksiak, Canada's most decorated female Olympian, has accepted a two-year ban from competition stemming from three whereabouts failures.

Oleksiak's period of ineligibility extends to July 14, 2027, with the ban applied retroactively to this past July 15.

According to a release from the Aquatics Integrity Unit, the 25-year-old from Toronto will have any competitive results from June 16 onward disqualified, including forfeiture of medals, points, and prizes.

Athlete whereabouts is part of the World Anti Doping Agency's (WADA) drug testing program. Selected athletes must provide a daily 60-minute availability window, 90 days in advance, to be tested, no matter where in the world they might be. If an athlete submits "late, inaccurate or incomplete whereabouts that lead to them being unavailable for testing, [they] may receive a Filing Failure," according to World Aquatics. 

Canadian swimmer Penny Oleksiak accepts 2-year suspension for 'whereabouts failures'

In July, after withdrawing from the world aquatics championships due to the whereabouts issue, Oleksiak said the matter "does not involve any banned substance" and added, "I am and always have been a clean athlete and will be making no further comment at this time."

Any combination of three filing failures or missed tests within 12-months could result in a two-year ban.

In July, Swimming Canada CEO Suzanne Paulins said Oleksiak failed to keep her whereabouts information fully up to date with World Aquatics but described it as "an administrative mistake."

Oleksiak is a seven-time Olympic medallist and nine-time world championship medallist.