Paraguayan swimmer Luana Alonso wished to compete for the United States at the 2024 Paris Olympics rather than represent her home country, according to a report. “I want to represent the United States more,” Alonso allegedly said during a live social media video before the Olympics, reported by the Paraguayan outlet HOY.
The outlet suggested that Alonso preferred to swim for the US because she attended college there and found the Team USA Olympic qualifications to be much different from Paraguay’s. Alonso, who was accused of “inappropriate conduct” and thrown out of the Olympic Village in Paris, competed as a swimmer for one season at Southern Methodist University as sophomore.
New Revelations
Alonso also attended Virginia Tech University during the 2021-2022 academic year. The 20-year-old swimmer qualified for the women’s 100-meter butterfly through the universality system, aimed at enhancing the diversity of participating nations in the Olympic Games.
In her social media video, Alonso reportedly criticized the treatment of athletes by the Paraguay Olympic Committee (COP).
“They threaten me that they are going to publish a statement, that I am going to leave because of universality, if I support my sport it is thanks to my sponsors, they want to humiliate me and say ‘it is not a big deal that you are leaving because of universality’ and like no Paraguayan woman has ever made a mark for the Olympic Games, and to tell me that and on top of that I am one second away is nothing,” said Alonso.
She expressed a preference for representing the US, citing the tension she experienced with her Paraguayan Olympic teammates and officials, who she claimed do not “support” or “trust” their athletes.
“It’s not a pleasure to represent Paraguay and if it were up to me, I would go back to college,” she added.
COP President Camilo Perez slammed Alonso for wanting to represent another country, pointing out that her times would not be competitive enough to qualify for the Olympics as part of Team USA.
“I read that she wants to compete for the United States,” Perez said, according to UNILAD. “There is no universality there. She came here as a Paraguayan. She has to train a lot more to represent USA, her times have to be much better.”
As Dirty as It Gets
Alonso, who gained recognition through her social media presence before competing in the Olympic pool, did not advance out of her heat into the semi-finals on July 27. She left everyone in shock by announcing her retirement from swimming the day after her race, just weeks after getting a tattoo of the Olympic rings on her hip.
On Monday, reports emerged that Alonso was expelled from the Olympic Village for being a distraction to other athletes due to “inappropriate” conduct, including a trip to Disneyland and wearing revealing outfits.
“Her presence is creating an inappropriate atmosphere within Team Paraguay,” Larissa Schaerer, head of the Paraguayan Olympic Committee said, according to the Sun.
“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.”
On Tuesday, Alonso disputed reports that she was removed from the athletic housing. “I just wanted to make it clear that I was never removed or expelled from anywhere, stop spreading false information,” Alonso wrote on Instagram, according to the Daily Beast.
“I don’t want to give any statement but I’m not going to let lies affect me either.”
