Brazilian Swimmer Ana Carolina Vieira Breaks Silence on Olympic Dismissal

Team Brazil swimmer Ana Carolina Vieira has spoken out after her dismissal from the 2024 Paris Olympics, which occurred after she left Olympic Village without permission. 

By Sabba Rahbar Aug 01, 2024 8:28 PM
| Updated Aug 01, 2024 10:11 PM
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Watch: Brazilian Swimmer Ana Carolina Vieira Breaks Silence on Olympic Dismissal

Ana Carolina Vieira is speaking out after her time in Paris came to an unexpected end.

The Brazilian swimmer was sent home early from the 2024 Olympics on July 28 after she and boyfriend Gabriel Santos, a fellow Team Brazil swimmer, left the Olympic Village without permission.

"How a communication failure destroyed my Olympic dream," Ana wrote on Instagram, translated from Portuguese, alongside a video explanation August 1. "Discipline, determination and education are my pillars as a high performance athlete."

As the 22-year-old explained in the video, she "received a lot of negative messages, but also a lot of positive messages, mainly from the people that know me."

Ana reassured her fans that she's "as OK as I can be," but was very saddened by the whole experience.

Still, she's looking ahead, adding, "But everything is going to be solved at the right time."

The Olympian also noted that she considers herself a "high performance athlete," and was raised to know the importance of respect and politeness because her parents were both in the military.

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But Ana is keeping herself busy, telling fans she's "already back in training and I have a competition that's coming up soon."

Ana Carolina Vieira/Instagram

"I'm very sad about the way I left the Olympic Games," she continued. "I was going to swim one more competition, but I will continue to cheer on everyone that is still there. The whole crew that is still competing. Cheer for Team Brazil."

During the competition in Paris, Ana had competed in the 4x100m freestyle relay along with teammates Giovana MedeirosMaria Paula Heitmann and Stephanie Balduccini on July 27. The team placed seventh in their heat and 12th overall, with Australia, the United States and China taking the gold, silver and bronze medals for the event.

The Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB) said in a statement that Ana was sent home due to "acts of indiscipline" as they "left the Olympic Village without authorization during the night of last Friday."

Ana Carolina Vieira/Instagram

In addition, Ana had a second infraction that occurred while competing. The COB also said in a statement that Ana had committed another act of indiscipline in a "disrespectful and aggressive manner, contested the technical decision made by the Brazilian Swimming Team committee."

Gustavo Otsuka, the head of Brazil's swimming team, also highlighted that Ana's reaction to the lineup played apart in her dismissal.

"We're not here playing or taking a vacation," Gustavo told Reuters. "We're here working for Brazil, for the 200 million taxpayers who are working for us. She took a completely inappropriate position to make her point, her dismay, about the formation of the relay."

For more emotional moments from the Olympics so far, keep reading.

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Aug. 10: Sport Climbing

Gold medalist Janja Garnbret of Team Slovenia celebrates with silver medalist Brooke Raboutou of Team USA after they completed the women's Boulder & Lead final.

Aug. 9: Track & Field

First-time Olympian Sha'carri Richardson of Team USA looks on after winning her first Olympic gold medal by placing first in the women's 4x100m relay final.

Aug. 8: Track & Field

Team USA's Tara Davis-Woodhall embraces her husband and Paralympic athlete Hunter Woodhall after winning the women's long jump final. 

Aug. 8: Canoe Sprint

Joan Antoni Moreno and Diego Dominguez of Team Spain yell in celebration after the men's canoe double 500m final. 

Aug. 7: Marathon Race Walk Mixed Relay

Spain's Maria Perez and Alvaro Martin pop champagne to celebrate their gold medals. 

Aug. 7: Cycling

Kelland O'Brien of Team Australia is emotional after his team, also including Sam Welsford, Conor Leahy and Oliver Bleddyn, won gold. The Austalian cyclists set a new world record with 3:40.730. 

Aug. 6: Track & Field

TEAM USA's Gabby Thomas snaps a selfie with her partner Spencer McManes after winning gold in the women's 200m final. 

Aug. 6: Track & Field

Cole Hocker of Team USA celebrates after winning the gold for the men's 1500m. Hocker won by .14 seconds. 

Aug. 5: Pole Vault 

Swedish athlete Armand Duplantis celebrates after setting a new world record in the men's pole vault. 

Aug. 5: Badminton 

An Se-young of Korea celebrates after defeating He Bingjiao of China 2-0 in their match. 

Aug. 5: Surfing 

Johanne Defay hugs Simon Paillard, her husband and coach, after winning bronze for France. 

Aug. 5: Gymnastics 

Simone Biles hugs an emotional Jordan Chiles after winning bronze for the women's floor routine final, marking Chiles' first individual Olympic medal. 

Aug. 2: Gymnastics 

Britain's Bryony Page is ecsatic after winning gold for the women's trampoline final in gymnastics. 

Aug. 2: Fencing 

Team Czechia's Michal Cupr, Jiri Beran, Jakub Jurka, Martin Rubes celebrate after defeating France for the men's bronze medal. 

Aug. 1: Gymnastics

USA gymnast Simone Biles beams after winning gold in the women's all-around final, sporting her "GOAT" necklace.

Aug. 1: Tennis

Great Britain's Andy Murray—who announced his retirement before the Paris Games—tearfully bids farewell to the crowd after being eliminated alongside Dan Evans in the men's doubles.

Aug. 1: Table Tennis

Tomokazu Harimoto of Team Japan lets off some steam during his match against China's Fan Zhendong.

Aug. 1: Swimming

Men's 200m backstroke silver medalist Apostolos Christou of Greece gets emotional while standing on the podium.

Aug. 1: Tennis

Spanish tennis Carlos Alcaraz lets out a victorious scream after defeating Tommy Paul of Team USA in men's single.

July 31: Diving

Great Britain's bronze medalists Andrea Spendolini Sirieix and Lois Toulson share a raw moment after the women's synchronized 10m platform diving final.

July 31: Soccer

Korbin Albert gets emotional after scoring a goal in the women's soccer game.

July 31: Swimming

Team Sweden's Sarah Sjoestroem celebrates her gold medal in the Women's 100m Freestyle Final.

July 31: Swimming

Team USA's Katie Ledecky reacts to winning gold in the Women's 1500m Freestyle Final.

July 31: Swimming

French swimmer Anastasiia Kirpichnikova cries tears of joy after seeing her silver medal-winning time in women's 1500m freestyle event.

July 31: Judo 

Serbia's Nemanja Majdov (L) and Greece's Theodoros Tselidis (R) share a moment after their round in the men's 90kg round of 16 in judo. Tselildis, who beat Majdov, later won the bronze medal. 

July 31: Sabre

Manon Apithy-Brunet (L) kisses her husband France's Bolade Apithy after his team beat Egypt. 

July 31: Triathalon 

Gold medalist Alex Yee of Team Great Britain and silver medalist Hayden Wilde of Team New Zealand share a subtle celebratory moment after crossing the finish line. 

July 31: Rugby 

Team New Zealand leaps for joy after beating Canada in the Women's Rugby Sevens Gold medal match. 

July 31: Field Hockey

Agustina Gorzelany of Team Argentina celebrates her team's first goal in a match against Spain. Argentina ended up winning the match 2-1. 

July 31: Shooting

Team Guatemala's Adriana Ruano Oliva gets emotional after realizing she's won the gold medal—her country's very first—in the shooting trap women's final. 

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