Beach volleyball player and convicted child rapist Steven van de Velde was heartily booed by the crowd during his first two matches at the Paris Olympic Games.
Van de Velde’s inclusion on the Dutch Olympic team sparked outrage ahead of the Games, with women’s rights advocates and sports fans alike questioning why the admitted rapist is being allowed to compete at one of the most important sporting events in the world.
In 2016, Van de Velde pleaded guilty to raping a 12-year-old British girl he met online. He spent 13 months in prison, with 12 of those months in the U.K. and one month in the Netherlands.
Despite his lawyers lamenting at trial that Van de Velde’s then-burgeoning athletic career was over, the beach volleyball player almost immediately jumped back into competing for the Netherlands. He was back playing internationally in 2017, months after being released from prison.
The Netherlands Volleyball Federation has stood by Van de Velde amid the controversy, and has defended his inclusion on the Dutch Olympic team.
“After his release, Van de Velde sought and received professional counselling. He has demonstrated to those around him — privately and professionally — self-insight and reflection,” the federation said. “Van de Velde now meets all the qualification requirements for the Olympic Games and is therefore part of the team.”
Calls to remove Van de Velde from the Olympics have been loud on social media. The crowds at both of Van de Velde’s matches so far have been similarly loud.
The 29-year-old Olympic rookie was greeted with a handful of boos when he first took the sand for warmups ahead of his first match against Italy. The jeering was louder for the more formal prematch introduction, though there was some mixed applause from orange-clad Dutch fans.
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All the other players, including Van de Velde’s volleyball partner Matthew Immers, received nothing but cheers. Van de Velde and Immers fell to the Italian team after three sets.
During their next match, against Chile, the crowd was even harsher. Van de Velde was booed each time he served the ball.
Van de Velde and Immers won against the Chilean team after two sets. Instead of the customary applause for the winners, the crowd loudly jeered.
“I was disappointed with the crowd, for sure,” Immers said. “I cannot do anything about his past anymore. I’m here to play with him. … So, yeah, I’m disappointed with it. But I think mentally we’re really strong, and I’m really strong to get through this, together. And we’re going to do that.”
Immers was asked about the cold reception and said he and Van de Velde spoke on the court and recognized they would need to be extra supportive of each other. When asked if he understood why they received that reception, he said, “I don’t want to talk about that, if it’s OK.”
“I think what’s in the past is in the past, and we’re here to go for a good result together,” said Immers, noting that there were Dutch fans cheering for them. “And I want to say there was also a lot of people supporting us, and we’re doing it for them. I really like this sport and I still love the crowd and the people who support us.”
Van de Velde has been barred from speaking to reporters during the Olympic Games, a break with a longstanding IOC policy. The Dutch Olympic team also chose to move him to alternative accommodation in Paris so he will not reside in the athletes’ village. The youngest Olympic athlete at the 2024 Games is just 11 years old.
Dutch team spokesman John van Vliet said the decision not to make Van de Velde available was aimed at keeping the focus on the athletic competition.
“We want to talk about sports, especially him. We are very much aware that if we bring Steven out here it won’t go about his sport and his performance,” he said. “We are here to create an environment for all our athletes in which they can perform well.”
When asked if the Dutch Olympic team was protecting a convicted child rapist, he said: “We are protecting a convicted child rapist to do his sport as best as possible and for a tournament which he qualified for.”
“The general matter of sex conviction and sex-related crime is definitely a more important issue than sport,” Van Vliet said. “In his case, we’ve got a person who has been convicted, who did his sentence, who did everything afterwards which he can do to be able to compete again.”
The IOC does not play a role in selecting Olympic athletes or setting regulations for who can participate. The international volleyball federation said it “recognizes that this is a highly sensitive matter” but said team selection is the responsibility of the national Olympic committee “while respecting the eligibility criteria.”
— With files from The Associated Press