![\"AFP](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/ad7d\/live\/674f91e0-cad8-11f0-9e07-03807f90fdcf.jpg.webp\")
AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nCanada’s most decorated Olympian, swimmer Penny Oleksiak, has accepted a two-year ban from competing following an anti-doping rule violation.<\/p>\n The International Testing Agency (ITA) announced on Tuesday that Oleksiak committed three “whereabout failures” over 12 months. Athletes are required to provide daily location details and a specific one-hour testing window to allow officials to conduct out-of-competition drug tests.<\/p>\n The Toronto-born swimmer is a seven-time Olympic medallist. She shot to national prominence at the Rio 2016 Games, becoming Canada’s youngest Olympic champion at age 16.<\/p>\n The 25-year-old athlete can return to competition in July 2027.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n “While we accept Penny’s explanation these were inadvertent errors and she has not used banned substances, anti-doping regulations are in place to ensure a level playing field for all athletes,” Swimming Canada chief executive officer Suzanne Paulins said in a statement.<\/p>\n “We will miss Penny on the national team and hope to see her back in the pool when she is eligible.”<\/p>\n The ITA said it notified Oleksiak of the whereabouts case in July. She then withdrew from the world aquatics championships and accepted a voluntary provisional suspension.<\/p>\n At the time, she stressed that the case did “not involve any banned substance” and that she had always been a clean athlete. <\/p>\n The two-year suspension from swimming leaves open the possibility that Oleksiak could compete at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n