The last time Penny Oleksiak did her thing at the Summer Olympics, she became the first Canadian to put up a four-medal performance, and the country’s youngest champ.
Now, five years later, the 21-year-old stands alone as Canada’s most decorated Summer Olympian, and one of the country’s most dominant Olympic athletes at any iteration of the Games.
Heading into Tuesday night with a chance to make history in Tokyo, the Toronto native claimed a bronze medal in the 200-metre freestyle race, taking her total medal count to six after snagging the fifth Sunday with Canada’s silver finish in the women’s 4×100-metre freestyle.
The sum stands as the most any Canadian has ever amassed at the Summer Games, and puts Oleksiak level with Cindy Klassen and Clara Hughes for most medals overall — all with Oleksiak’s best event, the 100-metre freestyle, still to come.
With the historic performance in the books, Canadians took to the Twitterverse to heap praise upon the swimming legend:
HISTORY MADE @OleksiakPenny becomes the MOST DECORATED Canadian Summer Olympian of ALL-TIME after capturing her 6th Olympic medal. #TeamCanada | #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/TfPsZlbOIK
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) July 28, 2021
BREAKING
Penny Oleksiak wins in 200m freestyle & earns her 6th career Olympic medal, tying the all-time record by a Canadian. She joins:
Cindy Klassen: 1 Gold, 2 Silver, 3 Bronze
Clara Hughes: 1 Gold, 1 Silver, 4 Bronze#Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/ACPyfO2PAa
— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) July 28, 2021
The swimmer from the six makes it six
Penny Oleksiak has won bronze in the 200m freestyle which gives her 6 Olympic medals…so far @SwimmingCanada
WATCH: https://t.co/ZoPibtUgIT pic.twitter.com/N2wEn02Zwr— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) July 28, 2021
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