Who is Luana Alonso, who was kicked out of the Olympic Village for “inappropriate” conduct
At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Luana Alonso missed qualification for the women’s 100m butterfly semi-finals by a mere 0.24 seconds.
The 20-year-old Paraguayan swimmer Luana Alonso was asked to leave the Olympic Village after it was claimed that she was creating an “inappropriate” atmosphere. Alonso reportedly missed qualifying for the women’s 100-meter butterfly semifinals at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris by just 0.24 seconds.
In a statement, Larissa Scherer, the head of the Paraguayan Olympic Committee, said, “Her presence is creating an inappropriate atmosphere within Team Paraguay.” Scherer thanked her for obeying orders and stated, “She did not spend the night in the Athletes’ Village of her own free will.” The nation’s Olympic leadership was enraged by her actions.
Who is Luana Alonso?
1. Born on September 19, 2004, Paraguayan competitive swimmer Luana Alonso specializes in butterfly stroke events. She is Paraguay’s national record holder in the 100m butterfly event.
2. Alonso is currently a student at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, US. Before joining the university’s women’s swimming and diving team, she was part of Virginia Tech for a semester, reports US Weekly magazine.
3. She came into the spotlight after representing her country at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics at the age of 17. At that time, she ranked 28th and failed to advance to the semifinals.
4.She made her second appearance at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, but after placing sixth, she was eliminated in the heats. She had previously competed in the World Championships, South American Games, and Youth Olympic Games.
5. Ms. Alonso has stated that she would like to compete for the United States in the 2024 Olympics. Ahead of the Summer Olympics, she allegedly declared during an Instagram live stream that she preferred the United States over Paraguay.
Alonso was reportedly at Disneyland rather than cheering on her Paraguayan teammates, according to a number of local media outlets.
A report in The Daily Mail said she had become a distraction to other competitors at the Olympic Games because of her “short clothing and socializing with other athletes.”
For her part, Alonso, who has more than 8,98,000 followers on Instagram, said the claims leveled against her are false.
She released a statement on Monday, saying, “I just wanted to make it clear that I have never been kicked out or expelled from anywhere, please stop spreading false information.” “I refuse to be affected by lies; I don’t want to make a statement.” Upon not making it to the semifinals, Alonso declared, “This was my last race.” I’m giving up swimming.”
