After her removal from the Paris Olympics for breaching a rule involving her boyfriend, Brazilian swimmer Ana Carolina Vieira has provided a new update.
On July 26, Vieira was found sneaking out of the Olympics Village with her boyfriend Gabriel Santos to spend a night in Paris following the event’s opening ceremony.
She shared their night out on social media, without having received permission to leave the village that evening.
Two days later, Vieira received a warning, which she reportedly contested. This led the Head of the Brazilian Swimming Team, Gustavo Otsuka, to issue a stern warning: “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.”
Since then, Vieira has updated her followers on Instagram about her situation.
In a video post, translated from Portuguese, Vieira states: “I’ve been getting lots of bad messages but mostly good messages from people.
“I’m OK. I’m well. I’m well as I can be right now because what’s happening to me is really sad. But everything is going to be resolved at the right moment.
“I live for the sport, I’m a high performance athlete so it’s a very delicate moment for me. From being a child I learnt hierarchy, respect, merit, politeness because my parents are from a military background.
“I’m already training again and I have a competition coming up, I need to compete again.
“I’m very sad for the way I got out of the Olympic Games. I was going to swim another time. But I’m going to continue to support the Brazilian team that’s competing.”
Previously, Vieira competed at the Paris Olympics on July 27 in the 4×100 meters freestyle relay. She was dismissed the following day.
On July 28, Vieira posted a video on her Instagram explaining that she didn’t have any of her belongings and intended to file 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 [the Olympic Village]. I went to the airport in shorts,” she says in the video.
“I have had no access to anything. I have not been able to speak to anyone.”