Steven Van de Velde, a Dutch volleyball player convicted of child rape, has addressed the intense criticism he has encountered for being allowed to participate in the Olympics.
In the lead-up to the 2024 Paris Olympics, it emerged that Van de Velde had secured a spot on the Netherlands volleyball team despite having pleaded guilty to raping a 12-year-old girl when he was 19.
Van de Velde was convicted of rape in 2016 and served only one year in prison, despite a four-year sentence. He resumed competing in national sports by 2018, even though the judge had stated that his actions had ruined his Olympic aspirations.
The announcement that the 29-year-old would compete in the 2024 Olympics sparked significant backlash, with leaders of various crisis and support organizations urging the International Olympics Committee (IOC) to investigate how this situation was permitted.
Ciara Bergman, CEO of Rape Crisis England & Wales, commented: “It sends a damaging message – that competing in sports matters more than raping a child, and that so long as a perpetrator of sexual violence has ‘moved on’ from their behavior, the victim and the rest of us should, too.”
Throughout his Olympic appearances, Van de Velde was booed by audience members. His teammate, Matthew Immers, expressed disappointment regarding the reaction.
Van de Velde has now spoken publicly about the backlash he has faced.
In a press conference held earlier today (August 13), Van de Velde became emotional when asked if he had considered withdrawing from this year’s Olympics due to the mounting criticism.
He stated, as quoted by the Sun: “I definitely thought about it, yes. I did something wrong, ten years ago. I have to accept that.
“But hurting people around me – whether it’s Matthew, my wife, my child… That just goes too far for me.
“That’s definitely a moment where I thought, is this worth it?”
Despite the controversy, Van de Velde participated in the 2024 Olympics. However, he and Immers were eliminated after losing to Brazil in straight sets, 21-16, 21-16, on Sunday.
After their Olympic journey ended, Immers told reporters: “If I can speak for him, after the match we lost, we were disappointed. But we said to each other: ‘Look what we did together. Look how hard we fought with all the attention.’ We stayed together.
“We cried together off the field and said, ‘OK, let’s just enjoy this moment.’ And we did that. So I’m happy we did it that way.”