Olympic swimmer Luana Alonso has been banned from staying at the Olympic Village after being accused of creating an "inappropriate environment."
The Paraguayan swimmer recently finished last in the women's 100m butterfly heat, trailing Helena Rosendahl Bach by five seconds. Following this, Alonso announced her retirement from swimming, despite her popularity online.
Typically, athletes are allowed to stay at the Olympic Village in Paris even after being eliminated from their events. However, a statement has confirmed that Alonso is banned from staying at the village due to her creating an "inappropriate atmosphere."
Larissa Schaerer, the head of the COP mission, released a statement: "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."
Alonso has yet to respond to the allegations directly. However, she did make a public statement: "People, my decision was made a long time ago! It wasn't because of the Games! So nothing, I just have to thank everyone who always supported me."
Reflecting on her performance, Alonso, who is retiring from swimming at the age of 20, apologized to her supporters in Paraguay: "It didn’t happen the way I wanted it to. I sincerely apologize to Paraguay, but I did what I could, despite several things that happened to me before. So, I’m happy to retire here with a full stadium and finally have the Olympic Games."
