Paraguayan swimmer Luana Alonso, who recently made headlines for her contentious exit from the Olympic Village, is now expressing a desire to represent the United States instead of her home country, according to a report by Paraguayan outlet HOY.
The 20-year-old Alonso, who competed for Southern Methodist University (SMU) after a season at Virginia Tech University, stated during a live video on social media that she prefers to represent the US. “I want to represent the United States more,” Alonso said, citing her strong connections to the country where she attended college and the more competitive environment there.
Alonso’s Olympic journey has been marred by controversy. She qualified for the women’s 100-metre butterfly event through the universality system, which allows athletes from countries with limited representation. Despite this achievement, her relationship with the Paraguayan Olympic Committee (COP) and her teammates has been strained.
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In her social media video, Alonso criticized the COP for undermining her achievements and focusing excessively on sponsorships rather than providing adequate support. She accused the committee of attempting to embarrass her by downplaying her qualification and expressed dissatisfaction with the support and trust from her Paraguayan teammates.
COP President Camilo Perez responded sharply, emphasizing that Alonso’s performance would not meet the standards required to compete for Team USA. “There is no universality there. She came here as a Paraguayan. She has to train much more to represent the USA; her times need to be significantly better,” Perez said.
The situation escalated when Alonso was reportedly expelled from the Olympic Village for “inappropriate” conduct, which allegedly included a trip to Disneyland and wearing revealing outfits that were considered distracting. Alonso has denied these claims, asserting that she was not a disruption and defending her conduct during the Olympics.
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