Paraguayan Swimmer Luana Alonso was kicked out of the Olympic Village after authorities deemed she was creating an “inappropriate environment.”
Her country had high hopes for the athlete as she came to Paris holding the 50m, 100m, and 200m Butterfly Paraguayan records, but her performance ultimately disappointed as she came in sixth place in the preliminary heats.
The results created what was described as “a tense atmosphere” inside the team, which resulted in the athlete allegedly getting into a confrontation and announcing her retirement from the competition.
Soon after she left the Villa out of her own accord without approval of her supervisors, the Paraguayan Olympic Committee applied disciplinary measures against her.
Larissa Schaerer, head of the Olympic Paraguayan mission, wrote an email to the athlete the following day (Thursday, August 1) ordering her delegation to “immediately carry out [Alonso’s] withdrawal from the Athletes’ Village of the aforementioned event, as requested by [the athlete] and authorized by this Head of Mission,” reported news site 442.
Paraguay bans swimmer from the Olympic Village one day after she failed to qualify for the Butterfly swimming semi-finals citing “inappropriate behavior”
No further details have been divulged on the nature of the altercation that caused Alonso to leave the Olympic Villa. However, the athlete updated her fans on her Instagram account and was seen coming up to border control in the United States, where she’s majoring in Political Sciences at the Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
Despite having been a decorated athlete in her country, having won three medals at the 2022 South American Rosario Youth Games, and participating in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Alonso has stated that swimming is not her end goal.
“I love swimming competitively, but that’s not what I want for my life,” she told Paraguayan radio station 730 AM.
“I would like to have a family and if I keep being tied to the sport I don’t think that will be possible.”
The athlete announced her retirement shortly after being disqualified from continuing to the semi-finals of her event
“My performance was not what I was hoping for and I’m very emotional because this will be the final race of my career,” she said in an interview while holding back tears.
“It’s been 18 years of my life. I apologize to Paraguay with all my heart. I did what I could,” she continued.”
“Despite the result, I’m happy to retire in the middle of a packed stadium here at the 2024 Paris Olympics.”
Camilo Pérez, president of the Paraguayan Olympic Committee, delivered some disparaging comments towards the athlete citing rumors that Alonso might be intending to compete for the US in future events.
“She didn’t come here because of her scores, she came here because she’s Paraguayan. If she intends to represent the US she will have to achieve scores that she has not achieved so far,” he said according to Latin American sports newsite AS.
Paraguayan Swimmer Luana Alonso Kicked Out Of Olympic Village After “Inappropriate Behavior” Bored Panda
