Paraguayan swimmer Luana Alonso kicked out of Olympic village for ‘inappropriate’ act
A swimmer from Paraguay — who is also an Instagram sensation with almost 600,000 followers — has been kicked out of the Olympic Village in Paris.
The country’s Olympic chief, Larissa Schaerer, has revealed that 20-year-old Luana Alonso was told to leave the village for creating an “inappropriate atmosphere”.
Alonso’s Olympics ended when she failed to progress from her 100m butterfly heat.
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Schaerer did not go into detail about Alonso’s behaviour.
“Her presence is creating an inappropriate atmosphere within Team Paraguay,” Schaerer said.
“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.”
Prior to the ban, Alonso — who also competed in the Tokyo Games — released an emotional statement on social media, informing her fans she was retiring.
“I am very emotional because it was my last race. I am retiring from swimming. I have been swimming for 18 years and have so many emotions,” she wrote.
“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.”
Alonso also revealed said she made the decision to retire ahead of the Paris Olympics.
“People, my decision was made a long time ago!” she wrote.
“It wasn’t because of the Games! So, I just have to thank everyone who has always supported me.”
She also apologised for the way she bowed out of her heat.
“It didn’t happen the way I wanted it to.
“I sincerely apologise to Paraguay, but I did what I could, despite several things that happened to me before.
“So, I’m happy and also to retire here with a full stadium and finally have the Olympic Games.”
In a video posted on her Instagram page, it now looks like Alonso has already returned to the United States.
Originally published on 7NEWS Sport