Steven van de Velde said the reaction to his appearance at the games was ‘disappointing’
A convicted child rapist who represented the Netherlands in beach volleyball at the Olympics has broken his silence after he was booed throughout the games.
Steven van de Velde’s selection for Paris 2024 sparked controversy before the games because he raped a 12-year-old girl in 2014, when he was aged 19.
Van de Velde met the girl on Facebook before travelling to the UK from the Netherlands in full knowledge of her age. In 2016, he was convicted on three counts of rape and sentenced to four years in prison.
However, the athlete only served 12 months of the sentence before he was released.
Every time he competed in Paris in the beach volleyball, he was booed by the crowd. Van de Velde and his teammate Matthew Immers were eventually knocked out in the last 16 of the competition.
Now, Van de Velde has given his first interview since the Olympics.
The Olympian became emotional and was pictured in tears as he spoke to Dutch sports outlet NOS Sport about his experience in Paris.
Van de Velde said: “I definitely had a moment of breaking down, both before the tournament and during it. But I thought ‘I’m not going to give others the power to bully me away or get me away.’
“It’s certainly not nothing that’s been fired at you. I think it’s a shame, it’s been 10 years, I’ve played more than 100 tournaments.
“I understand that it’s an issue, should someone with such a past be allowed to stand on such a podium? That’s a legitimate question.”
The Dutchman is due to take part in the European Beach Volleyball Championships, which get underway in the Netherlands on August 13.
