Luana Alonso, a swimmer for Paraguay at the 2024 Olympic Games, was one of the many athletes staying in the Olympic Village, where they trained, slept, and spent time together while waiting for their turn to compete.
According to a statement from Team Paraguay, Alonso has been asked to leave the Village as the Games enter their final week of competition. The Daily Mail reported that Larissa Schaerer, 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."
No further information has been provided about the incident, but Alonso's Instagram Stories show she has since returned to the U.S., where she is studying at Dallas University in Texas. Her post shows her arriving at border control, though she has yet to address the statement from COP.
Shortly after, the swimmer took to social media to announce her retirement from the sport. Alonso wrote, "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 in my heart, unique opportunities. It’s not goodbye, it’s see you soon."
Alonso made her Olympic debut at the age of 17 at the delayed Tokyo Olympics. While some assumed that her recent performance led to her retirement, she has since confirmed otherwise.
"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," she told Claro Sports. "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 and also to retire here with a full stadium and finally have the Olympic Games."