Last summer, at just 16 years of age, Canadian Penny Oleksiak instantly became a national hero. She became the most decorated Canadian at any summer Olympics, going 4-for-4 in medals, including a historic tie for gold in the women’s 100 freestyle.
How did she handle the adjustment returning to ‘normal’ life at home, even though it would never be quite the same as before?
In a CBC Sports feature, Oleksiak discusses her transition back to everyday life, and how she deals with her new found fame. She discusses how she enjoys when she gets recognized, and simply says “If I saw someone I looked up to too, I would really hope that they would be nice about it, talk to me, take the photo, so I’m just trying to treat people the way I wanna be treated I guess.”
She also mentioned that she’s fine with all of the fame that comes along with her success as long as she continues to improve.
So far at the World Championships, Oleksiak has a pair of 4th place finishes in the 100 fly and the women’s 4×100 free relay. She’ll contest the mixed medley relay tonight, and will swim the 50 fly and 100 free individually later on.
Watch the feature below, courtesy of CBC Sports on Youtube.
