Olympian sent home for breaking Olympic village rules with boyfriend spoke out after having 'dream' destroyed
An Olympian who was kicked out of the athlete's village for breaking a strict rule with her boyfriend has spoken out to tell her side of the story.
During the 2024 Paris Olympic Games last summer, Brazilian swimmer Ana Carolina Vieira was kicked out of the athletes village and sent home early after she was caught breaking the rules with her boyfriend.
Although many athletes were more than happy to stay within the living space built for them in the Olympic Village, the pair decided otherwise and left to go and explore Paris.
Unfortunately for the couple, their decision to visit the Eiffel tower without permission was a strict breach of Olympic rules, leading to them receiving a stern talking to from the the Brazilian Olympic Committee.
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Although her boyfriend Gabriel Santos, who is also a Brazilian swimming olympian, was let off with aa warning, Vieira was sent heading home as, according to the head of the Brazilian Swimming Team, Gustavo Otsuka, she had responded 'in a disrespectful and aggressive manner'.
A statement on the situation said: "The Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB) received this Saturday, 27 July, a statement from the Head of the Brazilian Swimming Team, Gustavo Otsuka, with the information that swimmers Ana Carolina Vieira and Gabriel Santos committed acts of indiscipline.
"With this, in common agreement with the members of the Technical Committee of the sport, with the Team Leader and with the Brazilian Confederation of Aquatic Sports (CBDA), the COB decided to punish the two athletes for having left the Olympic Village without authorisation last Friday.
"In addition to this fact, the athlete Ana Carolina, in a disrespectful and aggressive manner, contested the technical decision taken by the Brazilian Swimming Team committee.
"Thus, athlete Gabriel Santos was punished with a warning and athlete Ana Carolina Vieira was punished with removal from the delegation. She will return to Brazil immediately."
Responding to the incident, Vieira has explained her side of the story in a video posted on her Instagram page.
She captioned the video: "How a communication failure destroyed my Olympic dream. Discipline, determination and education are my pillars as a high performance athlete."
Translated from Brazilian Portuguese, she starts by saying: "Hey guys, I've been getting lots of bad messages but mostly good messages off people that support me - I'm OK, I'm well.
"I'm as well as I can be right now, because what's happening to me right now is really sad, but everything is going to be resolved at the right moment. I live for the sport, I'm a high performance athlete so it's a very delicate moment for me."
Vieira continued: "Since I was a child, I learnt hierarchy, respect, merit and politeness because my parents come from a military background. I'm already training again and I have a competition coming up, I need to compete again.
"I'm very sad of the way I got (kicked) out of the Olympic games. I was going to swim another time. But I'm going to continue to support the Brazilian team that's competing."
The update came days after she posted her tearful first reaction to the news, saying: "I left there and left my materials. I didn't know what to do. My things are there [in the Olympic Village]. I went to the airport in shorts.
"I had to open my suitcase at the airport. I'm in Portugal. I'm going to Recife and then to Sao Paulo. I am helpless.
"I have had no access to anything. I have not been able to speak to anyone. They told me to contact the COB channels. But how am I going to get in touch?
"I have already filed a complaint of harassment, and nothing has been resolved, harassment within the team."
She also revealed she is planning legal action when she returns home, as she continued: "I will speak to my lawyers. I promise to tell everything. I am sad, nervous, but with peace of mind because I know who I am. I know what my character and my nature are.
Ben McCrum