A Paraguayan swimmer who was asked to leave the Olympic village for creating an “inappropriate atmosphere” for her teammates has hit back at critics.
In an Instagram story posted overnight, Luana Alonso claimed she was never removed or expelled from the accommodation and accused the media of sharing “false information”.
“I don’t want to give any comment but will not allow lies to affect me,” the 20-year-old wrote in Spanish over a picture of a hand holding a cup of coffee in a balcony at sunrise.
Alonso became the centre of a media storm over the weekend, when it emerged Team Paraguay had asked her to leave the village after she announced her sudden retirement from professional swimming. She had failed to qualify in the first round of heats in Paris.
“It’s official. I am retiring from swimming. Thank you all for your support. Apologies to Paraguay. I can only say thanks,” Alonso wrote on an Instagram post on July 27, the day after the opening ceremony.
Paraguayan Olympic officials claim that once Alonso requested to retire from the sport via email she was no longer entitled to remain at the village.
“That request was granted,” Paraguay’s chef de mission Larissa Schaerer told Paraguayan radio over the weekend.
“From that moment that she requested to remain out, she is no longer part of the delegation.”
But instead of abandoning the village immediately, Alonso continued to stay at the accommodation while she visited luxury designer stores and dined at Parisian restaurants.
Images posted by the 20-year-old on social media show her posing in front of the Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland Paris, drinking champagne at the theme park and watching the tennis at Roland-Garros.