Canadians are celebrating a dramatic come-from-behind second-place win by teenager Penny Oleksiak in the Olympic 100-metre butterfly yesterday. It garnered Oleksiak her second medal of these games. She anchored the women’s relay team the night before and the team took bronze.
Oleksiak never expected to win a medal and even doubted she would make the team. She has not competed in any world championships or the Pan Am or Commonwealth games before the Rio Olympics.
A signature final burst of speed
Asked about her final burst of speed in both races, Oleksiak said it’s a bit of a trademark and something she has worked on since she was ten years old.
She was a gymnast, but switched to swimming at the age of nine. This turned out to be a good thing as she eventually grew to a height of six-foot-two or 188cm.
In the butterfly event, Oleksiak came second to Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom who broke a world record with a time of 55.48 seconds. Oleksiak broke her own world junior butterfly record with 56.46.
‘An amazing feeling’
When she finished, she did not know she had placed, had her back to the results and was trying to catch her breath. “I wasn’t even sure I’d even medalled until I looked up and saw the Canadian flags in the air around me. Getting to see that and getting to see that you medalled is just an amazing feeling.
“I saw my dad. He stood up and waved to me. He was literally the only person I saw in the crowd. Everything else was just blurred,” reports Canadian Press.
Not done yet
Oleksiak is scheduled to swim more races at these Olympics. Asked if she is worried about losing steam she said: “I’m only 16 so I just don’t get as much lactic acid,” reports CP.
Ending a drought
These two Olympic medals are the first won by females swimming for Canada since 1996.
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