A controversial Olympian who was bizarrely kicked out of the Athletes' Village at Paris 2024 has announced her shock return to the sport.
Following her elimination in the first heat of the women’s 100m butterfly on July 27, Paraguay's Luana Alonso, announced that she was retiring from swimming and swiftly left the Olympic village.
Given the fact that she was just 20 years old at the time and looked set to enjoy a highly promising career after setting multiple Paraguayan records in the butterfly, the decision was a huge shock.
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However, it now appears that Alonso could be set to return to the swimming pool, despite claims that her 'inappropriate' behaviour was the real reason why she had to leave the Athletes' Village in Paris.
Following her exit from the Olympics, an official statement claimed that Alonso was asked to leave Athletes' Village prematurely due to her creating an 'inappropriate atmosphere' for the rest of Team Paraguay.
But it appears that she has now put the events of the Paris Olympics behind her, as she has confirmed her intention to return to swimming competitions in the near future.
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"Is there a chance you are back to swimming competitions? Especially Olympics?' one follower asked via Alonso's Instagram Stories.
She replied: "Next year I'm coming back 'but I don't know if I will be back to competitive swimming."
Although it has never been explained exactly what Alonso was doing to create the inappropriate atmosphere, a statement from Larissa Schaerer, the head of the COP mission, revealed some details at the time.
Schaerer said: "Her presence is creating an inappropriate atmosphere within Team Paraguay.
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"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."
Some reports claimed that the swimmer had been distracting her team-mates, scheduling trips in Paris away from the village, and wearing her own outfits instead of the team's uniforms.
However, Alonso appeared to shut these rumours down with a post on social media claiming that, although she wouldn't be making a statement, she was "not going to let the lies affect me either."
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In her only officially comments addressing the situation, the swimmer confirmed that she had indeed left the Games but had done so of her own free will.
She said: 'I made the decision to stop and I am happy that my last race will be at the Olympics.
'I am going to go to study in the United States, I am going to continue my career in Political Science and, why not, be Sports Minister one day.'
Ben McCrum