CANADA CELEBRATES
Multi-medallist Oleksiak insists family will bring her back to earth
Athletes from Canada, some wearing mittens, march into the Maracana stadium on Sunday to take part in the closing ceremony for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
A bleary-eyed Penny RIO DE JANEIRO Oleksiak looked like a 16-yearold reporting to the breakfast table at an ungodly hour Sunday as she traipsed into an 11 a.m. news conference to reveal Canada’s flagbearer for the closing ceremony.
With her four medals in Rio, Oleksiak became Canada’s most decorated Olympian at a single Summer Games. But at heart, she’s just a kid longing to return home from what amounts to an eventful summer vacation capped by carrying the flag into Maracana Stadium.
On her immediate radar: driving lessons and plenty of time hanging out at Tim Hortons with her besties back in Toronto.
“I’ve just been trying to catch up with all my friends that I haven’t talked to yet,” she added. “I saw my family. It’s been pretty fun this last week just to chill out and everything.”
By chilling, she means hammering away on her smartphone. She arrived in Rio with roughly 2,500 Twitter followers. That number had ballooned to 47,600 as of Sunday evening.
“I wouldn’t say a lot has changed,” she said of her life on social media. “I’m still posting the same kind of stuff I usually post, letting people see inside the world of Penny.”
That world includes four medals tucked inside her winter socks: gold (100-metre freestyle), silver (100-metre butterfly) and two bronze (four-by-100 and fourby-200 relays).
On her four trips to the Olympic podium, Oleksiak showed little in the way of emotion. She broke down in tears, however, later in the Games when Toronto rapper Drake gave her a shoutout on Instagram. She’s 16, remember.
Given her accomplishments, Canada’s flag-bearer could leave Rio with a big head, but she swears her mom, dad and siblings won’t let that happen.
Her older brother Jamie is an NHL defenceman, and the family made a point of reminding him always that he’s still just Jamie to them.
The same goes for Penny — or Penelope, as her mother calls her.
“My family, they show me no mercy,” she said. “They’re just keeping everything the same. It’s pretty awesome to know they’re there for me. I think going through everything with my brother making the Dallas Stars and everything, I think we’ve kind of gone through this already.”
CANADIAN FLAGBEARERS FOR OPENING CEREMONIES:
2016: Rosie MacLennan, trampoline 2014: Hayley Wickenheiser, hockey 2012: Simon Whitfield, triathlon 2010: Clara Hughes, speedskating 2008: Adam van Koeverden, kayak
CANADIAN FLAGBEARERS FOR CLOSING CEREMONIES
2016: Penny Oleksiak, swimming 2014: Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse, bobsled 2012: Christine Sinclair, soccer 2010: Joannie Rochette, figure skating 2008: Karen Cockburn, trampoline