The first athlete to be sent home in the Paris 2024 Olympics has posted a message on Instagram hitting back at her treatment.
Brazilian swimmer Ana Carolina Vieira got into hot water after sneaking out of the athletes’ village without permission.
She did this to spend a night in Paris with her boyfriend and fellow Olympian swimmer Gabriel Santos.
Vieira, who competed on (July 27) alongside her fellow Brazilian teammates in the 4×100 meters freestyle relay in which they finished 12th in the heats, was caught out after posting about their night on social media.
Viera and her boyfriend snuck out to see the sights in Paris (Ana Carolina Vieira)
Could have probably avoided all of aggro if she and her boyfriend kept their pictures offline… but live and learn.
The day before the Olympics started, the pair went out in Paris to take in the sights, however after it was discovered they snuck out, Santos was given a warning and apologized.
Vieira allegedly argued the decision and the The Head of the Brazilian Swimming Team, Gustavo Otsuka, had some choice words for her.
In a statement he said: “The athlete Ana Carolina, in a disrespectful and aggressive manner, contested the technical decision taken by the Brazilian Swimming Team committee.
“Thus, athlete Gabriel Santos was punished with a warning and athlete Ana Carolina Vieira was punished with removal from the delegation. She will return to Brazil immediately.”
However, Vieira took to Instagram on Sunday to post an update about the situation and said she is without her belongings.
She also said she had filed a suit of harassment within the team.
“I left there and left my materials. I didn’t know what to do. My things are there [in the Olympic Village]. I went to the airport in shorts,” Vieira said in the video.
Ana Carolina Vieira said she will speak to her lawyers. (Buda Mendes/Getty Images)
“I had to open my suitcase at the airport. I’m in Portugal. I’m going to Recife and then to Sao Paulo. I am helpless.
“I have had no access to anything. I have not been able to speak to anyone. They told me to contact the COB channels. But how am I going to get in touch?
“I have already filed a complaint of harassment, and nothing has been resolved, harassment within the team.”
Vieira insisted she wasn’t going to stop there and planned to take the alleged issues further.
She continued: “I will speak to my lawyers. I promise to tell everything. I am sad, nervous, but with peace of mind because I know who I am. I know what my character and my nature are.
“I hope to be able to defend Brazilian women’s swimming with great pride. I ask for patience and thank you.”
A swimmer has become the first Olympian to be sent home from the Paris 2024 Olympics after breaking a major rule with her boyfriend.
Brazilian Ana Carolina Vieira snuck out of the Olympic Village without permission from her team to spend a night in Paris with her boyfriend, fellow Olympic swimmer Gabriel Santos.
Ana Carolina Vieira has become the first Olympian to be sent home from the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Instagram/_anavieeiraa)
Vieira competed on Saturday (July 27) alongside her fellow Brazilian teammates in the 4×100 meters freestyle relay in which they finished 12th in the heats.
She was caught out after posting their night on social media.
The 22-year-old’s relay team was eliminated from the competition and so too was Santos in the men’s 4x100m freestyle – which took place on the same day.
But it was the night before, on the day the Olympics started, that the couple went out into the city of love to get a real taste of Paris.
When the bosses from their home country’s Olympic committee found out Vieira allegedly berated them and was immediately sent packing, while her 28-year-old boyfriend was allowed to remain after apologising.
Vieira and Santos sampled Parisian nightlife the day before they competed in the Olympics. (Instagram/_anavieeiraa)
The Head of the Brazilian Swimming Team, Gustavo Otsuka, issued a statement via the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB) in regards to Vieira and Santos’ ‘acts of indiscipline’.
It read: “With this, in common agreement with the members of the Technical Committee of the sport, with the Team Leader and with the Brazilian Confederation of Aquatic Sports (CBDA), the COB decided to punish the two athletes for having left the Olympic Village without authorization last Friday.
“In addition to this fact, the athlete Ana Carolina, in a disrespectful and aggressive manner, contested the technical decision taken by the Brazilian Swimming Team committee.
“Thus, athlete Gabriel Santos was punished with a warning and athlete Ana Carolina Vieira was punished with removal from the delegation. She will return to Brazil immediately.”
Vieira and Santos both competed in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic games while Santos also competed in the Rio 2016 Olympics. (Instagram/_anavieeiraa)
However, while Otsuka’s statement finished there, he had more to say about Vieira, who competed in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, and Santos, who competed in Tokyo and also the Rio 2016 Olympics.
Otsuka said per Reuters: “We’re not here playing or taking a vacation. We’re here working for Brazil, for the 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.”
