Swimmer removed from Olympic village for creating ‘inappropriate environment’ breaks silence on claims
The Paraguayan swimmer at the centre of an eviction scandal in the Olympic village has broken her silence after her country's team claimed she was kicked out for creating an 'inappropriate environment'.
Luana Alonso was one of the thousands of athletes who have moved into the residential complex in Paris - where they eat, train and spend time with each other - for the duration of the Games.
There's plenty of things for competitors to do to pass the time, from getting free Costa Coffee to enjoying the games room and tiki bars...although some sports stars have been seen taking drastic action after slamming the conditions.
Alonso was expected to stay in the Olympic village until the competition wraps up on Sunday (11 August), but she was allegedly told to pack her things and make herself scarce yesterday (5 August) by Team Paraguay.
Advert
The dramatic announcement came after her lacklustre performance in the Women’s 100m Butterfly heats, which saw her come sixth and finish with a time of 1:03.09.
She failed to qualify for the semi-finals after swimming more than three seconds slower than her personal best.
Following this, the 20-year-old then abruptly announced she was retiring from the sport on social media, telling her 500,000 Instagram followers: "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 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 them in my heart, unique opportunities."
Yesterday, it was then revealed that she had been booted out of the Olympic village, which is said to be housing 14,250 athletes at the moment.
Larissa Schaerer, the head of the COP mission, said: "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."
The statement did not elaborate on what had gone down to prompt Alonso's removal, however, it has been speculated that the swimmer was shown the door after sneaking off to Disneyland instead of supporting her teammates.
Other media outlets reported that she had angered Paraguayan officials after shunning the official kit while in the Olympic village in favour of wearing her own clothes.
Now, Alonso has broken her silence on the situation.
Taking to her Instagram stories, she shared a snap showing her watching the sunset from a balcony with a hot drink.
The swimmer then wrote [translated]: "I just wanted to clarify that they never took me out or expelled me from anywhere, stop spreading false information.
"I don't want to give any statement but I'm not going to let lies affect me either."
Alonso has reportedly now returned to the US, where she goes to university in Dallas, Texas.
LADbible has previously contacted POC and Alonso for comment.
Team GB's current medal count - 42
Gold medallists
- Rosalind Canter, Laura Collett, Tom McEwen: Equestrian - Eventing team
- Tom Pidcock: Mountain Bike - Men's cross country
- Nathan Hales: Shooting - Men's trap
- Tom Dean, Kieran Bird, James Guy, Jack McMillan, Matthew Richards, Duncan Scott: Swimming - Men's 4x200m freestyle
- Alex Yee: Men's triathlon
- Lauren Henry, Lola Anderson, Hannah Scott and Georgina Brayshaw: Rowing - Women's quadruple sculls
- Bryony Page: Gymnastics - Women's individual trampoline
- Emily Craig and Imogen Grant: Rowing - Women's lightweight double sculls
- Ben Maher, Harry Charles and Scott Brash: Equestrian - Team jumping
- Sholto Carnegie, Rory Gibbs, Morgan Bolding, Jacob Dawson, Charlie Elwes, Tom Digby, James Rudkin and Tom Ford: Rowing: Men's eight
- Sophie Capewell, Emma Finucane, Katy Marchant: Track cycling - Women's team sprint
- Keely Hodgkinson: Athletics - Women's 800m
Silver medallists
- Anna Henderson: Cycling - Women's individual time trial
- Adam Peaty: Swimming - Men's 100m breaststroke
- Tom Daley and Noah Williams: Diving - Men's synchronised 10m platform
- Adam Burgess: Canoe Slalom - Men's canoe single
- Matthew Richards: Swimming - Men's 200m freestyle
- Kieran Reilly: Cycling - Men's BMX Freestyle
- Helen Glover, Esme Booth, Sam Redgrave and Rebecca Shorten: Rowing - Women's coxless four
- Oliver Wynne-Griffith and Thomas George: Rowing - Men's pair
- Benjamin Proud: Swimming - Men's 50m freestyle
- Duncan Scott: Swimming - Men's 200m individual medley
- Amber Rutter: Shooting - Women's skeet
- Tommy Fleetwood: Golf - Men's individual stroke play
- Joe Clarke: Canoe slalom - Men's kayak cross
Bronze medallists
- Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Mew Jensen: Diving - Women's synchronised 3m springboard
- Kimberley Woods: Canoe - Women's slalom
- Laura Collett: Equestrian - Eventing individual
- Beth Potter: Women's triathlon
- Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix and Lois Toulson: Diving - Women's synchronised 10m platform
- Oliver Wilkes, David Ambler, Matt Aldridge and Freddie Davidson: Rowing - Men's coxless four
- Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne and Becky Wilde: Rowing - Women's double sculls
- Jack Laugher and Anthony Harding: Diving - men's synchronised 3m springboard
- Heidi Long, Rowan McKellar, Holly Dunford, Emily Ford, Lauren Irwin, Eve Stewart, Harriet Taylor and Annie Campbell-Orde - Rowing: Women's eight
- Emma Wilson: Sailing: Women's windsurfing
- Jake Jarman: Artistic gymnastics - Men's floor exercise
- Lottie Fry, Becky Moody and Carl Hester: Equestrian - Team Grand Prix Special
- Alex Wilson-Haydock, Laviai Nielsen, Samuel Reardon, Nicole Yeargin: Athletics - Mixed 4x400m relay
- Lottie Fry and Glamourdale: Equestrian - Individual dressage
- Harry Hepworth: Artistic gymnastics - Men's vault
- Alex Yee, Georgia Taylor-Brown, Samuel Dickinson and Beth Potter: Triathlon - Mixed relay
- Kimberley Woods: Canoe slalom - Women's kayak cross
Topics: Olympics, Sport, News, World News, Instagram
Olivia Burke