Paraguayan swimmer Luana Alonso has responded to the controversy at the 2024 Paris Olympics, which led to her removal from the athletes’ village.
Alonso, who competed in the 100m butterfly, finishing sixth in her heat and missing out on the semi-finals, found herself at the center of a storm for her alleged “inappropriate behavior.”
Following her failure to qualify for the semi-finals, Alonso, who studies and trains at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. announced her retirement from competitive swimming:
“Swimming: thank you for allowing me to dream, you taught me to fight, to try, perseverance, sacrifice, discipline and many more,” she wrote on Instagram on July 27th.
“I gave you part of my life and I don’t change it 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.”
However, after this, Alonso was accused of several behaviors that were deemed distracting to her teammates who were still competing. She was seen walking around in her own choice of outfits rather than the official uniforms provided by Paraguayan team chiefs. She spent time hanging out with other athletes and was active on social media, sharing photos and videos of her exploring Paris, including visits to luxury stores and restaurants. She even checked into a hotel in the French capital and made a trip to Disneyland Paris.
The swimmer’s actions during the Olympics, including wearing non-official outfits and exploring Paris instead of supporting her teammates, were cited as reasons for her removal. Despite these accusations, Alonso remains firm in her stance that she was not expelled and that the allegations against her are false.
Alonso took to Instagram on August 4, stating, “I just wanted to clarify that I was never kicked out or expelled from anywhere, please stop spreading false information. I don’t want to make any statement but I’m not going to let lies affect me either.” She posted this alongside a photo of herself enjoying a sunset drink.
The head of the Paraguayan Olympic Committee, Larissa Schaerer, issued a statement on Monday, explaining the decision: “Her presence is creating an inappropriate atmosphere within Team Paraguay. 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.”
Reports from the Paraguayan publication HOY suggested that Alonso had voiced a preference to compete for the United States rather than Paraguay. These claims reportedly arose after Alonso qualified for the Olympics through the universality system, designed to increase the diversity of participating nations. She was quoted saying, “I want to represent the United States more,” adding that she faced threats of being publicly shamed for her qualifying status.
Camilo Perez, president of the Paraguayan Olympic Committee, commented on Alonso’s aspirations to represent the U.S., saying, “There is no universality there. She came here as a Paraguayan. She has to train a lot more to represent the USA, her times have to be much better.”
Luana Alonso, who attends Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, and swims for the Dallas Mustangs, currently has approximately 643,000 followers on Instagram. She did mention her interest in focusing on her influencing career and studies.
