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Swimmer Luana Alonso Slams Rumor She Was ‘Removed’ From Olympic Village for ‘Inappropriate’ Behavior
Paraguayan swimmer Luana Alonso slammed rumors she was removed from the 2024 Olympic Village for “inappropriate” behavior.
“I just wanted to make it clear that I was never removed or expelled from anywhere,” Luana, 20, wrote via her Instagram Stories, which was translated from Spanish, on Monday, August 5.
The Olympian slammed the “false information” spreading, adding, “I don’t want to give any statement, but I’m not going to let lies affect me either.”
The Paraguay native failed to qualify for the women’s 100m butterfly semifinals during the 2024 Paris Olympics. She finished sixth in her heat with a time of 1:03.09, slower than her 1:00.37 time from her run at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago.
Following her failed qualification, the professional athlete announced her retirement from the sport in an emotional post on social media.
“It’s official now! I’m retiring from swimming,” she wrote on July 27. “Thank you all so much for the support! Sorry Paraguay, I only have to thank you!”
Instead of supporting her teammates at the Games, she was accused of sneaking out to Disneyland and was flown home as punishment, according to local news reports.
“Her presence is creating an inappropriate atmosphere within Team Paraguay,” Larissa Schaerer, the head of the Paraguayan Olympic Committee boss said in a statement. “We thank her for proceeding as instructed, as it was of her own free will that she did not spend the night in the Athletes’ Village.”
President of the Paraguayan Olympic Committee, Camilo Perez, also commented on the situation, telling a Paraguayan radio station, “We are a serious team that seeks to compete, not to go sightseeing.”
Luana was accused of “distracting” her fellow competitors by wearing skimpy clothes — wearing her own choice of clothes rather than the official kit provided by Paraguayan team chiefs — and socializing with other athletes, according to a separate report from the Daily Mail.
It is common for athletes to stay at the Olympics until the closing ceremony and participate in festivities in the host city. However, the Olympian, who studies political science at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, has since gone home.
After her final race on July 27, the swimmer penned a heartfelt message expressing her admiration for the sport.
“Swimming: thank you for allowing me to dream, you taught me to fight, to try, perseverance, sacrifice, discipline and many more,” she captioned an Instagram post. “I gave you part of my life and I don’t change it for anything in the world because I lived the best experiences of my life, you gave me thousands of joys, friends from other countries that I will always carry them in my heart, unique opportunities. It’s not goodbye, it’s see you soon.”
Luana’s unexpected departure follows the dismissal of another Olympian, 22-year-old Ana Carolina Vieira, from the Brazilian team for reportedly sneaking out of the athletes’ village at night with her boyfriend.
She allegedly became “disrespectful and aggressive” when the Brazilian Olympic Committee confronted her about it, leading to her being sent home.
The Brazilian swimmer broke her silence on the situation on July 28, writing via Instagram that “communication failure destroyed” her Olympic dream.
“I’m very sad about the way I left the Olympic Games,” she said in Portuguese, which was translated to English. “I was going to swim one more competition, but I will continue to cheer on everyone that is still there. The whole crew that is still competing. Cheer for Team Brazil.”
The Brazilian Olympic Committee (BOC) stated that Ana’s departure home was due to “acts of indiscipline” after she “left the Olympic Village without authorization during the night last Friday.”
