Paraguayan Swimmer Luana Alonso was expelled from the Olympic Village due to allegations of creating an “inappropriate environment.” Despite high expectations for her, based on holding the Paraguayan records for the 50m, 100m, and 200m butterfly, she disappointed with a sixth-place finish in the preliminary heats in Paris.
The disappointing results led to a “tense atmosphere” within the team, reportedly resulting in a confrontation and the athlete announcing her retirement from the competition. Subsequently, she left the Olympic Village without authorization from her supervisors, leading to disciplinary action by the Paraguayan Olympic Committee.
Paraguay bans a swimmer from the Olympic Village one day after she failed to qualify for the butterfly swimming semi-finals, citing “inappropriate behavior”
No additional information has been disclosed about the altercation that prompted Alonso to depart the Olympic Village. However, the athlete communicated with her fans on Instagram and was later seen at border control in the United States, where she is pursuing a degree in Political Science at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
Although she is a celebrated athlete in her home country, having secured three medals at the 2022 South American Rosario Youth Games and competed in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Alonso has expressed that swimming is not her ultimate ambition.
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.
