Let’s face it. We all keep a secret list of people who’ve trolled us over the years. But few of us ever get the opportunity to troll any of those people back on the world’s biggest stage.
After winning three medals during the Tokyo Games, 21-year-old Penny Oleksiak just became the most decorated Olympian in Canada’s history (ahem, at the Summer Games). The swimmer had previously won gold in Rio and took her newfound status as a living legend to do what any one of us in her position would do: Drag a giant skeleton out of her closet and dump it onto the internet.
Sure, summer games are kind of an afterthought for Canada, which spends half the year wrapped in a blanket of ice (and has ten times more winter Olympic medals than summer). This mindset is probably the reason why one of Oleksiak’s high school teachers once told her that swimming, “wouldn’t get me anywhere.”
But then, Oleksiak accidentally googled herself:
I just googled “Canada’s most decorated Olympian” and my name came up. I want to thank that teacher in high school who told me to stop swimming to focus on school bc swimming wouldn’t get me anywhere. This is what dreams are made of.
— Penny Oleksiak (@OleksiakPenny) August 3, 2021
We’re guessing that pressing “send” on that tweet felt amazing. (Maybe even more amazing than winning a gold medal.) But Olesiak didn’t stop there. In a follow-up tweet, the star athlete expertly crafted a disclaimer to teachers everywhere while also doubling down on the particular educator who she most likely still had nightmares about up until this week.
Also in reference to my last tweet no shade at all towards teachers in general, my sister is a teacher and I see her inspiring kids everyday.. Most of my teachers saw the vision and pushed me towards it. That one who constantly dragged me down though,, WOAT.
— Penny Oleksiak (@OleksiakPenny) August 3, 2021
We don’t know for sure if trolling bad teachers from your past is why the world’s top athletes compete, but we’re dead certain this is the reason why Olympic medalists inspire us.
Cover Photo: Ian MacNicol (Getty Images)
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