Paraguayan Swimmer Retires Post Her Forced Exit From Olympics Village

In a surprising turn of events, a 20-year-old Paraguayan swimmer Luana Alonso was forced to wrap up her Paris trip for reportedly causing a 'distraction' with her glamorous presence at the Olympic Village.

The talented athlete was sent back home after the Paraguay team manager accused her of creating an “inappropriate atmosphere” within the contingent. Alonso competed in the women’s 100m butterfly event at the Paris Olympics Games. She missed the semi-final berth by just 0.24 seconds.

Rumours depict two reasons for Luana's retirement

Luana Alonso has been a role model for the emerging swimmers in Paraguay. She made her Summer Olympics debut in Tokyo in 2021. Alonso has competed in many major tournaments during her career and holds several national records in butterfly events.

Despite her regretful exit from the competition, athletes were allowed to stay in the Village till the end of the Olympic Games. But, according to a report by Blast, the youngster was asked to vacate her apartment as her teammates were getting distracted by her beauty.

Following the news of her expulsion came to light, Luana Alonso made a shocking announcement about taking retirement from competitive swimming. “It’s official now! I’m retiring from swimming. Thank you so much for the support. Sorry, Paraguay. I only have to thank you,” she shared on Instagram. The talented swimmer also addressed the decision of her early retirement during an interaction with Claro Sports.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Luana Alonso (@luanalonsom)

In another post corresponding to this, Alonso also dropped some glimpses of her Paris Olympics campaign.  Her post conveyed her gratitude towards the sport, “Swimming, thank you for allowing me to dream, you taught me to fight, to try, perseverance, sacrifice, discipline and many more. I gave you part of my life and I won’t change it for anything in the world because I lived the best experiences of my life,” she wrote in the caption.

Meanwhile, a report by The Week claimed that Alonso was sneaking out of the Paris Olympics Village to visit Disneyland. The act did not go down well with Larissa Schaerer who is the head of the Paraguayan Olympic Committee. However, the governing body didn’t accept the fact that Alonso was busy in her personal life instead of cheering for her national teammates.

Ahead of the Olympics, Alonso is said to have expressed a desire to represent the United States at the 2024 Olympics. In a live stream on Instagram before the summer Olympics, she allegedly said she preferred the US over Paraguay.

The talented swimmer addressed the decision of her early retirement during an interaction with Claro Sports. “I have been swimming for so long, 18 years, and I have so many feelings. Unfortunately, I decided to stop, and I am happy that my last race will be at the Olympic Games,” Alonso said.