7-Time Olympic Medalist Penny Oleksiak Tosses First Pitch at Blue Jays Game

Canadian seven-time Olympic medalist Penny Oleksiak threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Toronto Blue Jays game on Sept. 18.

Later on during Saturday’s game, Oleksiak discussed what it was like training for the Olympics through the pandemic.

Oleksiak previously threw out the Blue Jays’ first pitch in September 2016 after the Rio Games. A number of American Olympic swimmers have thrown out MLB first pitches in recent years, including  Katie Ledecky, Michael PhelpsRyan Murphy, Conor DwyerCullen JonesKelsi Dahlia, Connor Jaeger and Zach Apple.

The 21-year-old Oleksiak is now Canada’s most decorated Olympian. She surpassed speed skaters Cindy Klassen and Clara Hughes, who each had six Olympic medals (Hughes also competed in cycling), and sprinter Andre De Grasse also reached six medals in Tokyo. Oleksiak won four medals at the 2016 Olympics, including tying Simone Manuel for gold in the 100-meter freestyle, then picked up three more medals in Tokyo. Her other individual medals include silver in the 100 fly in Rio and bronze in the 200 free this year.

Oleksiak comes from a sporty family. She’s the youngest of five siblings including Jamie Oleksiak, an NHL defenseman who was recently selected by the Seattle Kraken in the 2021 Expansion Draft. Multiple other siblings played collegiate sports, as did her father, and her mother set age-group swimming records in Scotland.

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Sam B
2 years ago

delightful stuff we need every morning to start the day….

The White Whale
2 years ago

I don’t think the Jays are going to sign her to a contract, but she got it there!

Ol' Longhorn
2 years ago

Helluva lot better than Conor McGregor’s.

Admin
Reply to  Ol' Longhorn
2 years ago

Yeah, that one was ugly….

HailMary
2 years ago

McGregor really felt the pressure

Honest Observer
2 years ago

Looking back at her career, she sure knows how to peak at the right time.

John
Reply to  Honest Observer
2 years ago

You’re saying this is the peak? She’s still in her early 20’s. I think she has the potential to have the longevity of Sarah shoestring and her best races are still in front of her and not behind her.

Random123
Reply to  John
2 years ago

shoestring 😀

Honest Observer
Reply to  John
2 years ago

“Looking back at her career” was maybe an unfortunate choice of words. Certainly don’t mean to imply she’s finished in any way. Simply saying that so far she’s hit her peaks at the Olympics.

Steve Nolan
2 years ago

Yo, Giant Bird, please hold these medals

About Torrey Hart

Torrey Hart

Torrey is from Oakland, CA, and majored in media studies and American studies at Claremont McKenna College, where she swam distance freestyle for the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps team. Outside of SwimSwam, she has bylines at Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, SB Nation, and The Student Life newspaper.

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