Ingrid Oliveira, the Brazilian synchronised diver whose performance at the 2016 Olympics was marred by a sex scandal, has spoken out about her antics in Rio — and all the troubles that followed.
Oliveira, who was 20 at that time, was alleged to have kicked her diving partner Giovanna Pedroso out of their flat in the Olympic Village so that she could have a "marathon sex session" with canoeist Pedro Goncalves, also from Brazil.
Her story got extensive media coverage at home and overseas, given that the following day after the alleged sex romp she and her teammate finished last in the 10-metre synchronised platform diving final — outraging some Brazilian fans.
The female diving pair split up after their disastrous Olympic run, but Oliveira claimed that the only part of the story that was true was that she had sex with the canoeist.
In an interview with Brazilian sports outlet UOL Esporte, she insisted that she never booted out her teammate and that she was one of many Olympic athletes who had hook-ups in Rio.
"You must have seen the number of condoms they distributed in the Village," she said, adding that many people would use Tinder to find a partner, which is where she met Pedro Goncalves.
"I took Pedro to my room but it wasn't the day before my competition nor the day before his [competition].
"He didn't spend the night with me and I didn't kick anyone out of the room. People don't know, but in the Olympics it's normal."
"Before the opening ceremony, I told my partner and colleague who I was sharing a room with that I was going to take him there. She let me. And it wasn't something only I did. She and a lot of others also did the same thing in several competitions," she continued, admitting that she couldn't have imagined that row that followed.
Ingrid said she knew who leaked the story of her late-night rendezvous to the press, but that this person was not "worth talking about".
The public reaction turned out to be traumatic, the athlete said, as people would "harass" her and invite her to become a porn actress, send naked photos on Instagram and ask how much she charged for sex.
"What I did was wrong and I am aware of that. But the treatment I received was totally unjust and the story was completely distorted."
Oliveira apparently doesn't want this scandal to ruin her career completely and is currently training for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
