AN Olympic swimmer has hit back at Olympic bosses after she was expelled from her team and ousted from the Games.
Ana Carolina Vieira, 22, was kicked off the Brazilian team after reportedly sneaking out at night from the athletes’ village with her boyfriend.
Vieira was a member of the country’s 4X100m freestyle relay team which crashed out of the tournament ahead of the final on Saturday.
But the night before Vieira and her partner Gabriel Santos, who is also a swimmer, sneaked out of the Olympic Village to go on a night out in Paris, Brazilian media reported.
Vieira allegedly mistreated the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB) when they attempted to penalise her, and as a result, she was promptly scheduled for a trip home.
Santos, who had been eliminated in the heats of the men’s 4×100 freestyle, was reprimanded after apologising.
The statement from the COD read: “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, however, protested her innocence in an Instagram story, insisting that she had done nothing wrong.
The athlete has “filed a complaint of harassment with the COB” but claims that it was apparently disregarded.
She said: “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.
“I will speak to my lawyers. I promise to tell everything.
“I am sad, nervous, but with a peace of mind because I know who I am, I know what my character and my nature are.”
The swimmer added that she had to leave her belongings behind after being rushed out of the Olympic village to fly home.
She said: “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. I had to open my suitcase at the airport. I’m in Portugal, I’m going to Recife and then to São Paulo.”
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Following the scandalous incident, Brazil‘s swim team leader Gustavo Otsuka told 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.”
This isn’t the first time Vieira found herself in hot water as the athlete got into a fight with her compatriot Jhennifer Conceicao on the podium during the 2023 Brazilian Championships.
WHAT TO WATCH TODAY...
The Paris 2024 Olympics is now well underway with medals being ticked off and huge events still to come.
SunSport brings you all the action taking place in the French capital on a what is expected to be a huge third day.
TODAY’S BRIT MEDAL HOPES
Alex Yee was due to be in action in the men’s triathlon but due to pollution in the River Seine, the event has been postponed.
The Team GB 4x200m men’s freestyle swimming squad are packed with talent and could be in for gold (8.59pm).
And the women’s gymnastics team could also get a podium finish but it’s a strong field including Simone Biles’ USA (5.15pm).
BRITS TO WATCH
Kieran Reilly and Charlotte Worthington get underway in the freestyle BMX qualifiers (12.25pm).
Joe Clarke and Mallory Franklin are both in canoe slalom action, while the men’s hockey side face top-dogs the Netherlands.
GLOBAL STARS TODAY
Clarisse Agbegnenou carried the flag for France at the opening ceremony.
She can back that up with a third Olympic judo gold in the -63kg final (4.49pm).
FANCY SOMETHING DIFFERENT?
It is the final day of the rugby sevens for this Olympics, ending with the final at the 70,000-seater Stade de France at 6.45pm.
And the street-style 3×3 basketball gets underway at the spectacular La Concorde venue at the bottom of the Champs-Elysees in the heart of the city.
Click here for all the events taking place at Paris 2024 today.
Follow all the action as it unfolds with our Paris 2024 Olympics LIVE blog.
Vieira made her Olympic debut at the 2020 Tokyo Games where her team finished 12th.
In 2018, she won silver in the 4x100m freestyle relay at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires and in 2021, she was part of the quartet in Tokyo.
Meanwhile, Santos was competing in his third Olympics after making his debut in Rio 2016.
The pair are seen as the golden couple of Brazilian swimming and have clocked up a huge social media following with their joint posts.
Instagram snaps range from training sessions in the pool, sightseeing in Uruguay and relaxed selfies with a fluffy dog.
Vieira has 25,000 Instagram followers and Santos has 15,000.
The couple, from Sao Paulo, are part of the Esporte Clube Pinheiros, one of the Brazilian athletics clubs with the most athletes at the Paris Olympics.
