Paraguayan swimmer Luana Alonso didn’t have a successful Olympic campaign this year, yet she was still a hit with fans, thanks to some controversy.
Alonso is understood to have been removed from the Olympic Village for fostering an “inappropriate” environment, while reports noted she proved a distraction for her constant wearing of sultry clothing.
“Her presence is creating an inappropriate atmosphere within Team Paraguay,” the Paraguayan Olympic Committee said in a statement. “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 swimmer denied she was kicked out of the Olympic Village, calling the outlets disseminating the reports out for fake news.
“I just wanted to make it clear that I was never removed or expelled from anywhere, stop spreading false information,” she wrote in an Instagram post. “I don’t want to give any statement but I’m not going to let lies affect me either.”
In any case, the notoriety has paid off. Any publicity is good publicity, after all. As such, Luana Alonso has attracted hundreds of thousands of followers and can now consider becoming a social media influencer, as she reached 1 million followers on Instagram this week.
She took to said platform to thank her supporters on Friday, expressing her disbelief.
“What! 1m I can’t believe it, it may happened in a way I didn’t wanted to but I want to thank you all for supporting me,” the swimmer wrote.
Luana Alonso Announced Her Retirement After Competing
Luana Alonso, 20, has hit quite the milestone, something which is even more impressive given that she had just over 240,000 last month.
It appears that fans are on her side despite whatever may have happened during the games in Paris.
Meanwhile, she has retired from competitive swimming after finishing sixth in the 100m butterfly.
Of course, there’s plenty of time to change her mind by the time the Olympics come around again, especially given that she will only be 24 then.
