Picture Credit: X
Brazilian swimmer, Ana Carolina Vieira has been expelled from the ongoing 2024 Paris Olympics after she sneaked out of the athletes’ village to reportedly meet her boyfriend. The 22-year-old swimmer was flown on the first flight back to Brazil after she stepped out of the village with her boyfriend, who is also her fellow teammate Gabriel Santos to reportedly “sample the Parisian nightlife”.
However, Carolina Vieira has left the athletes’ village, Gabriel has been given a warning, the Brazilian Olympic Committee (BOC) informed. It is to be noted that two athletes left the Olympics village without their team’s knowledge and their infraction was discovered following their posts on social media. The BOC in its statement said that they were informed from the head of the country’s swimming team head as the two athletes “committed acts of indiscipline”. “The athlete Ana Carolina, in a disrespectful and aggressive manner, contested a technical decision made by Brazilian National Swimming Team committee,” its statement read.
“As a result, Gabriel Santos was given a warning and Ana Carolina Vieira was dismissed from the delegation. She will return to Brazil immediately,” it further added. The 22-year-old Vieira competed in the 4x100 metres freestyle relay team that finished 12th in the heats. On the other hand, Santos was eliminated in the men’s 4x100 freestyle heats.
Gustavo Otsuka reacts on Ana Carolina and Gabriel Santos’ incident
Gustavo Otsuka, Brazil’s swimming team leader reacted on the incident which hogged the limelight. Speaking after the incident, Otsuka said, “We’re not here playing or taking vacation. We’re here working for Brazil, for 200 million taxpayers who are working for us. We can’t play around here. She took a completely inappropriate position to make her point, her dismay, about the formation of the relay.”
“It was during this period that we decided to take this situation to the disciplinary committee, discussed it and took the appropriate action. We ended up finding out through the posts,” he added.
