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The 2024 Olympics are right around the corner, beginning on July 26, the best athletes in the world will be in Paris, France, ready to take home a medal and make their country proud. As the last athletes qualify in their respective sports, fan-favorite names are starting to make their way around social media, one being Paraguayan Luana Alonso.
Alonso qualified for the Olympics this week, and it will be her second time competing in the games. When she was 17 in 2021, she competed in the women's 100-metre butterfly event at the Tokyo Games, which were pushed back a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Tuesday, the Olympian shared a photo with her 226k followers on Instagram wearing a blue bathing suit announcing the news. "It's official! Qualified for the Paris Games 2024! My heart is happy to represent the country once again! Thank you to my family, friends, and sponsors for making this possible!" she wrote in the caption. "And to all of you who follow me and give me your love and affection. Let's go Paraguay."
Alonso shared the image on X, formerly known as Twitter, which went viral with 3.4 million views. She had people captivated with her beauty, with hundreds vowing to cheer for Paraguay because of her. One user even suggested she compete in Miss Universe next. "If you enter Miss Universe, you would win that too," one user wrote.
The swimmer's Olympic rings tattoo was displayed in the photo, which she first showed off in August 2022. "Just joined the Olympic Rings tattoo club," she wrote in the caption on Instagram at the time.
Alonso started competing as a swimmer when she was 11 years old. Now 20, she is still in college, studying Political Science at Southern Methodist University in Dallas County, Texas, and is a scholarship recipient from the National Sports Secretariat.
The swimmer already has her eyes for the future, with dreams in and out of the pool. She wants to compete in three Olympic games, become a mother, and start a family “I love swimming, but to a point ... It's not what I want in life,” she told 730 AM radio, per Clarin. “I want to have a family. And if I continue to be tied to swimming I think that will not be possible."
