Glam swimmer Laura Alonso was booted out of the Athletes’ Village in Paris in 2024 due to alleged “inappropriate” behaviour.
The Paraguayan swimmer has retired after she failed to make the semi-finals of the 100m butterfly.
The 21-year-old apparently did not wear the official Paraguayan kit. She was mostly wearing in her own outfits during the Paris Olympics, and it broke the protocol.
She also routinely socialised with other athletes and was a distraction to her team-mates who were still competing.
“Her presence is creating an inappropriate atmosphere within Team Paraguay,” said Paraguayan Olympic bigwig Larissa Schaerer.
“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, who has since performed a u-turn on her retirement, has responded to the allegations. The swimmer has made it clear that she left the village on her own, as she didn’t want to swin anymore.
She said in a lengthy post: “Let me make this clear: I left the Olympic Village on my own.
“The Paraguayan Olympic team claimed I created an ‘inappropriate environment’ simply because I decided I didn’t want to swim anymore.
“They tried to take my accreditation away, but that’s not something they had the right to do.
“I chose not to hand it over and apparently that was ‘inappropriate’ to them.
“Funny how the same people who treated me like this later begged me to return to the Pan American Junior Games.
“If I had been treated with basic respect, maybe I wouldn’t have stepped away.
“But standing up for myself has always made me a “problem” in their eyes. I’m not sorry for that.”