Paraguayan swimmer Luana Alonso has found herself at the centre of a controversy at the ongoing Paris Olympics. The 20-year-old, who failed to advance from the women's 100m butterfly heats on July 27, was reportedly asked to leave the athletes' village due to "inappropriate behaviour".
Alonso, who announced her retirement from swimming just a day after missing the semifinal qualification by 0.24 seconds - and weeks after getting a tattoo of the Olympic rings - allegedly left the village to visit Disneyland Paris instead of supporting her teammates.
She faced additional criticism for allegedly "distracting" fellow competitors by socialising with other teams and wearing "revealing and skimpy" clothing in the village, rather than the official Paraguayan team attire. This, combined with her unauthorised trip to Disneyland, ultimately led to her removal from the Olympic Village.
Larissa Schaerer, head of the Paraguayan Olympic Committee, confirmed Alonso was instructed to leave the premises, citing her behaviour as the reason for the decision. She stated that Alonso's presence was "creating an inappropriate atmosphere" within the Paraguay team. "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 Committee boss said.
Luana Alonso, however, posted on Instagram that she was never removed or expelled from anywhere, urging people to "stop spreading false information."
"I don't want to give any statement but I'm not going to let lies affect me either."
Beyond her Olympic endeavours, Alonso is a student at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, where she is a member of the women's swimming and diving team. Previously, she spent a semester at Virginia Tech. Alonso first gained international recognition at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where she represented Paraguay at just 17 years old and finished 28th. Following a narrow miss of semifinal qualification by 0.24 seconds at the Paris Olympics, Alonso announced her surprise retirement from competitive swimming.
In a social media video, she slammed the Paraguayan Olympic Committee's treatment of athletes, claiming they aimed to "humiliate her".
"They threaten me that they are going to publish a statement that I am going to leave because of universality. They want to humiliate me and say it is not a big deal that you are leaving because of universality," Alonso said, referencing the system designed to increase the diversity of participating nations at the Olympics. "It's not a pleasure to represent Paraguay, and if it were up to me, I would go back to college."
Committee President Camilo Perez responded, stating that Alonso's times wouldn't qualify her for the Olympics as a member of Team USA. "She has to train a lot more to represent the USA; her times have to be much better," Perez stated.
