Paris: There was a mix of boos and applause as Steven van de Velde, a Dutch beach volleyball player and convicted rapist, made his Paris 2024 debut on Sunday. The match took place in bright sunshine at the base of the Eiffel Tower.
Van de Velde, who was sentenced to four years in prison in Britain in 2016 for the rape of a 12-year-old girl when he was 19, has faced significant controversy. After spending 13 months in prison—one year in Britain and one month in the Netherlands—his sentence was reduced when the offense was reclassified under Dutch law as a lesser crime of “committing indecent acts.” He has been competing in beach volleyball again since 2017.
Despite his return to sports, Van de Velde was met with strong reactions from the crowd. During the match, he was repeatedly booed, though some spectators showed support. Melissa Gautier, a 23-year-old health worker, expressed disapproval, stating, “Being an athlete shouldn’t give you a free pass.” Andrea Syslos, a 47-year-old Italian lawyer, added that, while Van de Velde might not belong in prison, his presence at the Olympics was inappropriate, suggesting that “sporting justice should be harsher than civil justice.”
Van de Velde’s teammate, Matthew Immers, defended him, emphasizing, “What’s in the past is in the past. He had his punishment and now he is really kind. For me, it is an example that (he) grew and learnt a lot from it.” John van Vliet, press officer for the Netherlands team, echoed this sentiment, stating, “It’s something that shouldn’t be brought up through sports in a tournament that he qualified for.”
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The International Olympic Committee (IOC) stated that it was satisfied with the Netherlands team’s handling of the situation. IOC spokesperson Mark Adams noted that while the committee was not entirely comfortable with the situation, significant rehabilitation had occurred and strong safeguarding measures were in place.
To mitigate the impact, the Netherlands team relocated Van de Velde to alternative accommodation in Paris, separate from the athletes’ village, and requested that he refrain from media interactions.
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Alienor Laurent, co-president of the French feminist collective “Osez le féminisme!” (Dare to be Feminist), criticized the decision, arguing that allowing Van de Velde to compete sends a troubling message to victims and perpetrators alike. Similarly, Julie Ann Rivers-Cochran, executive director of The Army of Survivors NGO, emphasized that an athlete convicted of child sexual abuse should not be permitted to compete in the Olympics.
Van de Velde and Immers lost their men’s Pool B match 22-20, 19-21, 15-13 to Italy’s Alex Ranghieri and Adrian Ignacio Carambula Raurich.
