Paraguayan swimmer, Luana Alonso, was expelled from the Olympic Village yesterday after completing her events, amidst a dramatic turn of events.
The Paraguayan Olympic Committee made the decision to remove her from the camp, citing that she was “creating an inappropriate environment”.
In a statement published by The Sun, Larissa Schaerer, the head of the Paraguayan Olympic Committee said Luana Alonso’s presence was generating a disruptive atmosphere within the Paraguayan delegation.
“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,” the statement added.
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Luana Alonso participated in the semifinals of the women’s 100m butterfly, but didn’t qualify for the finals, finishing sixth in her heat with a time of 1:03.09. Following the event, she revealed her decision to retire from competitive swimming.
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The swimmer shared a goodbye message to swimming, thanking the sport for teaching her valuable lessons and accompanying her post with photos from her Paris Olympics experience.
“Swimming: thank you for allowing me to dream, you taught me to fight, to try, perseverance, sacrifice, discipline and many more things,” she wrote. “I gave you part of my life and I wouldn’t change that 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 in my heart, unique opportunities. It’s not goodbye, it’s see you soon.”
On Instagram Monday, the 20-year-old insisted that she is the victim of ‘lies’ and ‘false information’ following the statement from the Paraguayan Olympic Committee.
“I just wanted to make it clear that I was never removed or expelled from anywhere, stop spreading false information,” she wrote.
According to local media reports, Luana Alonso had previously expressed a desire to compete for the United States, even before her participation in the Paris Olympics. Additionally, several outlets have published an email from Larissa Schaerer, Paraguay’s chef de mission, requesting Alonso’s departure from the Olympic village due to her conduct “causing tension within the team.”
