- Luana Alonso left the athletes’ village during last year’s Olympics in Paris
- It was claimed that Alonso was kicked out for ‘inappropriate’ behaviour
- Alonso has now spoken out on Instagram to give her side of the story
Olympic swimmer Luana Alonso has hit back at claims that she was kicked out of the athletes’ village last year due to her ‘inappropriate’ behaviour.
Alonso, 21, competed for Paraguay in the 100m butterfly in Paris but failed to qualify for the semi-finals of her event and immediately announced her retirement from swimming.
Aside from competing, the glamorous swimmer had been seen walking round in her own choice of outfits rather than the official kit provided by Paraguayan team chiefs, while she was also spotted socialising with other athletes and was said to be distracting her team-mates still competing.
In response, the Paraguayan Olympic Committee released a statement claiming Alonso had been told to leave the athletes’ village. Paraguayan Olympic chief Larissa Schaerer 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.’
Now, 10 months on from the Games, Alonso has broken her silence on what really happened, insisting that her country turned its back on her after she decided she no longer wanted to swim.
Luana Alonso (pictured) has denied claims she was kicked out of the Olympic Village for ‘inappropriate’ behaviour
Alonso was accused of distracting her team-mates while they were still competing in Paris
Alonso has claimed her own country turned on her simply because she chose to retire
In a lengthy statement posted on her Instagram Story, Alonso wrote: ‘I can’t believe I have to say this, but I’m seriously considering legal action against the magazine and media outlets spreading false rumours like that I was expelled from the Olympic Village. Really? Who came up with that nonsense? Well, it’s not true.
‘Let me make this clear: I left the Olympic Village on my own. The Paraguayan Olympic team claimed I created an «inappropriate environment» simply because I decided I didn’t want to swim anymore.
‘They tried to take my accreditation away, but that’s not something they had the right to do. I chose not to hand it over and apparently that was «inappropriate» to them. Funny how the same people who treated me like this later begged me to return to the Pan American Junior Games.
‘If I had been treated with basic respect, maybe I wouldn’t have stepped away. I’ve always given everything for my country breaking records, winning medals but standing up for myself has always made me a «problem» in their eyes. I’m not sorry for that.
‘I speak up when I’m disrespected, whether it’s by team-mates, staff, or anyone else and that’s not going to change. I’ll be posting a video soon to address everything properly. But seriously these lies are wild and affecting my life and that’s why I decided I’m keeping my life lowkey.’
After leaving the Olympic Village, Alonso checked into a hotel in the French capital and visited high end boutiques and restaurants – and posted photos to her 500,000 followers on her social media.
She now has 1.1million followers on Instagram, despite cutting back on her social media activity in recent months.
However, Alonso did announce in October that she was starting an OnlyFans account.
Last month, Alonso revealed that she will be returning to swimming next year, but admitted ‘I don’t know if I will be back to competitive swimming’.
