Luana Alonso booted from Olympic Village for ‘inappropriate behavior’
It’s been an eventful Paris Olympics for Paraguayan swimmer Luana Alonso.
The 20-year-old athlete — who retired from the sport after she failed to advance out of her heat and into the women’s 100m butterfly semifinals on July 27 — was asked to leave the Olympic Village for creating an inappropriate environment, The Sun reported Monday.
“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 outlet.
“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.”
Alonso had reportedly been staying in the Olympic Village despite announcing her retirement from the sport.
Paraguayan media outlets reported that Alonso had spent time in Disneyland instead of supporting her teammates, upsetting the country’s Olympic leadership.
She finished sixth in her heat with a time of 1:03.09, which was higher than her 1:00.37 from her heat in the Tokyo Olympics three years ago.
U.S. swimmers Torri Huske and Gretchen Walsh finished first and second, 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!”
Alonso shared an emotional message, which she addressed to the sport, in a follow-up post.
“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.”
Before that, the former collegiate swimmer hinted that the Paris Games would be her last Olympics in a post on Instagram last month.
Alonso, who spent a season at Virginia Tech before transferring to SMU, went viral before the Paris Games for a tattoo of the Olympics rings on her hip.
She’s coming off a strong 2023, in which she set career bests in the 100m and 200m events in butterfly and competed in the NCAA championships.
Alonso has yet to address leaving the Olympic Village.
