.png)
1 month ago
9
July 27 was perhaps the biggest day in Luana Alonso's life.
In the space of 24 hours, the Paraguayan swimmer crashed out of the Olympics, following a 6th place finish in the 100m butterfly race, before unexpectedly announcing her retirement from the sport.
Aged 20.
But drama would not yet leave the so-called Wonder Girl's Olympic life, as yesterday it was revealed she was forced out of the Athletes' Village for creating an 'inappropriate atmosphere' among her teammates.'
While she has shared several racy photos to her social media, including a steamy shower selfie and many snaps showing off her Olympic rings tattoo on her upper-right thigh, little is known about why she was made to leave.
Paraguay's Olympic Team did not expand on the statement, but Larissa Schaerer, the head of the COP mission, added: '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.'
The information vacuum has created an explosion of speculation about the swimmer, and what she could've done to have been forced out of the Athletes' Village.
But who exactly is Luana Alonso? MailOnline dives into the swimmer's life to find out.
Luana Alonso (pictured) announced her retirement from swimming following a crushing 6th place finish in her 100m butterfly race
She is just 20 years old, and announced her retirement less than a fortnight ago
Alonso was known in Paraguay as 'Wonder Girl'
She was known for shared steamy photos with her social media fans
Alonso (seen left here) has been a competitive swimmer since she was six
She was forced to leave the Athletes' Village for creating an 'inappropriate environment'
It is not known what she will do after her retirement
Her career has taken her all over the world, from Doha to Budapest, and along the way she's shared stunning snaps of her in bikinis and swimwear.
In Doha, where she was competing in the 2024 World Aquatics Championships, she was spotted traversing the desert in a lacy white mesh dress.
She was also seen straddling a jet-ski while wearing a bright orange bikini in the Qatari capital, as well as a camel while wearing a loose, short black dress.
At the competition itself, she was spotted wearing a tight, bright orange swimsuit that exposed her Olympic rings tattoo, as well as a stark tanline from her time in the Middle East sun.
But before she was jetting across the world to show off her athletic prowess, she cut her teeth in her home country of Paraguay.
In Doha, where she was competing in the 2024 World Aquatics Championships, she was spotted traversing the desert in a lacy white mesh dress
The glamorous swimmer rode a camel in the desert surrounding Doha while wearing a loose, short black dress
She was also seen straddling a jet-ski while wearing a bright orange bikini in the Qatari capital
Born in Asuncion, her country's capital in 2004, she began swimming at just four years old having been encouraged by her grandfather.
Just two years later, she was competing in races, and quickly found fame as a child prodigy.
She said in 2022 that the moment she won her first competition, she knew that she wanted to dedicate her life to the sport.
'At that moment, I realised swimming was my thing', she said.
Her seemingly innate talent in the water was honed by her dedication to her sport, revealing in 2020 that she trains in the water twice a day, and also does gym work and stretching every day on top of that.
Her dedication to the sport led to compete in international games at the age of 15, after competing in the World Junior Championships in Budapest, Hungary, in 2019.
Alonso, pictured during the opening ceremony, boasts an Instagram following of nearly 500,000
The 20-year-old has since retired from swimming after finishing sixth in her only swim at the Games
Alonso bumped into Rafael Nadal (right) during the games and shared a snap of the pair on X
The Paraguay star started swimming at a young age and first competed at 6 years old
Alonso confirmed her retirement with this message that she posted onto Instagram
Two years later. she represented her country at the South American Championships in Argentina, before making her Olympic debut at Tokyo 2021.
Sadly, she barely made a splash there, finishing just 28th in the 100m butterfly.
To supplement her swimming, she won prestigious scholarships to two American colleges, Southern Methodist University in Texas and Virginia Tech in Virginia. She was a Division 1 athlete at both universities.
But her time in the US appears to have marred her allegiance to her home country.
She was a Division 1 athlete at Southern Methodist University in Texas
Alonso made her Olympic debut in Tokyo
In late July, five days after the Paris Games began, she reportedly took to her social media to proclaim that she would rather compete for the US than Paraguay.
'I want to represent the United States more', she told her hundreds of thousands of followers.
She claimed that her country's Olympic committee 'threatened' her.
'They threatened to publish a statement, that I am going to leave because of university... They want to humiliate me,' she said.
'It's not a pleasure to represent Paraguay and if it were up to me, I would go back to college', she added.
For now, little is known about what else the 20-year-old bombshell will do. She said in a post to her Instagram following her retirement that she would not quit swimming forever.
'It's not goodbye. it's see you soon.'
English (US)