Paraguayan Olympic swimmer Luana Alonso has finally addressed long-standing reports that she was expelled from the Olympic Village during the 2024 Paris Games, calling the claims “completely false.”
Alonso, 21, who competed in the women’s 100m butterfly, failed to make it beyond the heats at last summer’s Olympics.
But media reports soon shifted focus to her conduct off the pool deck, alleging that she was removed from Team Paraguay’s quarters due to creating an “inappropriate atmosphere.”
Now, nearly 11 months later, Alonso has spoken publicly for the first time, taking to Instagram Stories to deliver a scathing rebuttal.
“Let me make this clear: I left the Olympic Village on my own,” she wrote. “These are false rumours that have hurt my name and my career.”
The controversy began after Alonso shared photos of herself at Disneyland Paris shortly after her Olympic exit.
In the images, she posed with Mickey Mouse ears and a champagne flute — a move that officials reportedly viewed as disrespectful.
Larissa Schaerer, head of the Paraguayan Olympic Committee, told The Sun at the time that Alonso’s presence was “creating an inappropriate environment” for other athletes.
The swimmer, a two-time Olympian, has now accused her national committee of overreacting and misrepresenting the situation.
“They said I created a problem because I no longer wanted to swim,” she wrote. “They tried to take my accreditation, but had no right to do so.”
Alonso said she refused to surrender her Olympic ID pass and voluntarily left the Village when the atmosphere became “hostile.”
She also claimed her appearance and personal choices became unjust targets for criticism during her stay in Seine-Saint-Denis.
“I was judged for wearing skinny clothes, for socialising, and for not conforming,” she said. “That’s not inappropriate — that’s being a young adult.”
Before the Games, Alonso made headlines with a tattoo of the Olympic rings on her hip — a move that reportedly clashed with officials over image expectations.
After leaving the Olympic housing, she stayed in a hotel and visited Parisian shops and restaurants, continuing to share her experience online.
Some in Paraguay viewed her posts as tone-deaf, given the team’s struggles. But Alonso believes she was unfairly singled out.
“I had finished racing. I was no longer obligated to stay,” she said. “If others saw that as disrespectful, that’s on them.”
Despite the friction, Alonso revealed that officials later asked her to return for the Pan American Junior Games in Asunción.
She declined, citing poor treatment and a lack of respect from national swimming authorities.
“If I had been treated like a human being, maybe I would have stayed,” she said. “But they made me feel like a problem.”
Alonso’s Olympic career appeared to end soon after the Games, when she quietly announced her retirement from competitive swimming.
However, in a cryptic reply to a fan in May, she hinted at a potential return to the sport in 2025.
“Next year I’m coming back,” she said, though she didn’t confirm whether it would be at a competitive level.
In the meantime, the swimmer is threatening legal action against media outlets that repeated claims about her alleged expulsion.
“I’m seriously considering suing the magazines and journalists who spread this nonsense,” she wrote. “It’s false and damaging.”
She accused the media of spreading “nonsense” without checking facts and said the fallout has affected her personal life.
“That’s why I’ve decided to keep a lower profile,” she added. “The lies have consequences.”
Alonso also teased a video release to tell her full side of the story. “I’ve stayed quiet long enough,” she said.
Her case has raised fresh concerns over how athletes, particularly women, are managed and represented by national sporting institutions.
For now, she remains away from competition but insists the story is far from over.
“I gave everything for my country,” Alonso wrote. “But when I defended myself, I became the villain.”
