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Paraguayan swimmer Luana Alonso, who recently announced her sudden retirement after failing to qualify for the women's 100-meter butterfly final at the 2024 Paris Olympics, was kicked out of the Olympic Village for creating an "inappropriate atmosphere," Larissa Schaerer, the head of the Paraguayan Olympic Committee, confirmed in a statement obtained by the Sun on Monday (August 5).
“Her presence is creating an inappropriate atmosphere within Team Paraguay,” Schaerer said. “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 reportedly continued staying at the Olympic Village despite her sudden retirement announcement during the first official day of competition. Paraguayan media outlets reported that the swimmer had also spent time in Disneyland Paris, rather than supporting her former teammates, which upset the country's Olympic leadership.
Alonso, who previously swam for Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, shared a video on her Instagram story that appeared to show her re-entering the United States border on Sunday (August 4). The Paraguayan swimmer finished sixth in her heat with a time of 1:03.09, which was slower than her time of 1:00.37 from her heat at the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
"It's official now! I'm retiring from swimming, thank you all so much for the support! Sorry Paraguay I only have to thank you," Alonso wrote in an Instagram post after the heat.
United States swimmers Torri Huske and Gretchen Walsh took gold and silver, respectively, in the women's 100-meter butterfly final.