Paraguayan swimmer Luana Alonso has hit back at allegations she was booted from the Olympic Village at the 2024 Paris Games due to “inappropriate” conduct.
In a message shared Monday on her Instagram Stories, the 20-year-old competitor — who has been accused of being a distraction to athletes with her attire and socializing — called the narrative surrounding the controversy “false.”
“I just wanted to make it clear that I was never removed or expelled from anywhere, stop spreading false information,” Alonso wrote, according to the Daily Beast.
“I don’t want to give any statement but I’m not going to let lies affect me either.”
The message was shared next to a sunset photo as she sipped a beverage.
Alonso, whose profile was on the rise ahead of the Games, reportedly had been staying in the Olympic Village even after announcing her retirement from swimming in late July.
She did not advance out of her heat in the 100m butterfly to the semifinals.
Larissa Schaerer, the head of the Paraguayan Olympic Committee, told The Sun in a recent statement that Alonso’s “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,” Schaerer said.
