Glamorous Paraguayan swimmer Luana Alonso was expelled from the Athletes Village after unexpectedly announcing her retirement from the sport on the first day of the Paris Olympic Games. She has since been socializing with other competitors in civilian attire, sparking fresh controversy.
The Latin American influencer, who has nearly 500,000 Instagram followers, had hoped to remain in Paris for sightseeing after retiring but was accused of creating an 'inappropriate atmosphere' among her teammates and was instructed to keep her distance. Larissa Schaerer, the head of the Paraguayan Olympic Committee (COP), ordered Alonso to leave the Athletes Village and stay in a hotel until her departure from France two days later.
Kicked Out of the Village
"Her presence is creating an inappropriate atmosphere within Team Paraguay," Larissa Schaerer, the head of the Paraguayan Olympic Committee, said in a statement published by the Sun.
"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."
"She [Luana Alonso] competed on Saturday the 27th [July] and when she finished competing, she declared that she was going to retire.
"We were not aware of that, not even her coach. It was a decision that we respect," Schaerer told Radio Monumental 1080 AM in the Paraguayan capital Asunción.
"She had a flight to leave on the 29th in the morning and that same afternoon-evening she told me that she was going to leave, that she was going to sleep in a hotel.
"I asked her to communicate it in writing, because she is part of a delegation and was withdrawing.
"She sent the email and was authorized to stop belonging to our delegation," she recalled.
"The next day, on Sunday the 28th, I ran into her at the Olympic Village. She was dressed to go out, in her own clothes, not with clothes for the delegation.
Disturbing Team's Focus
Paraguayan media reported that Alonso visited Disneyland rather than supporting her teammates, which displeased the country's Olympic officials. She finished sixth in her heat with a time of 1:03.09, slower than her previous heat time of 1:00.37 from the Tokyo Olympics three years earlier.
U.S. swimmers Torri Huske and Gretchen Walsh took first and second place, respectively.
"it's official! I'm retiring from swimming, thank you all so much for your support!" Alonso wrote on Instagram after the event. "Sorry Paraguay ♥️ I just have to say thank you!"
In a follow-up post, Alonso shared an emotional message addressed to the sport. "Swimming: thank you for allowing me to dream, you taught me to fight, to try, perseverance, sacrifice, discipline and many more things," she wrote, including a bunch of photos of her competing at the Paris Olympics.
"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."
Earlier, the former collegiate swimmer suggested that the Paris Games might be her final Olympics in an Instagram post last month.
Alonso, who had a season at Virginia Tech before moving to SMU, gained viral attention before the Paris Games for a tattoo of the Olympic rings on her hip.
She's coming off a successful 2023, having achieved personal bests in the 100m and 200m butterfly events and competing in the NCAA championships.
