A Brazilian swimmer who was sent home from Paris 2024 for sneaking out of the Olympic village with her boyfriend is considering legal action against her country’s national federation.
Ana Carolina Vieira was reportedly caught trying to leave the village with teammate Gabriel Santos after falling in the 4x100m freestyle relay last Saturday, when Brazil finished seventh in their heat.
The two were reprimanded by the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB), which called their actions “disrespectful and aggressively defiant” and took the radical step of banishing them from the Games.
But the 22-year-old athlete from São Paulo has now broken her silence on the matter, claiming on Instagram that she was innocent and filing a harassment complaint against the federation.
In the video posted on his account, Vieira confirmed that he returned home without his belongings – which he left at the athletes’ village in Paris – and described himself as a person who felt “helpless.”
He added: “I have already filed a complaint for harassment and nothing has been resolved, harassment within the team.
“I will speak to my lawyers. I promise to tell them everything. I am sad, nervous, but calm because I know who I am, I know what my character and nature are.”
Speaking about the rule violation, Brazil’s swimming team leader Gustavo Otsuka told Reuters that athletes like Vieira were not in Paris to “play or take a vacation.”
“We are here working for Brazil, for the 200 million taxpayers who work for us,” he said. “We cannot play here. She adopted a completely inappropriate position to express her point of view, her dismay, about the formation of the replacement.”
Vieira had already represented his country at the 2020 Tokyo Games, where his team finished 12th in the 4x100m freestyle relay. Santos was competing in his third Games.
In a statement, the COB said: “The Brazilian Confederation of Aquatic Sports (CBDA), the COB decided to sanction 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, challenged the technical decision taken by the Brazilian Swimming Team committee.
“Athlete Gabriel Santos was thus sanctioned with a warning and athlete Ana Carolina Vieira was sanctioned with expulsion from the delegation. She will return to Brazil immediately.”
