Dutch beach volleyball player convicted of rape makes Olympic debut in Paris

PARIS (AP) — Steven Van de Velde, the Dutch beach volleyball player who convicted in 2016 of having sex with a 12-year-old girl in England, will make his Olympic debut on Sunday when he and teammate Matthew Immers face Italy on the sand of the Eiffel Tower Stadium.

Van de Velde’s presence in Paris has brought negative attention to the sport with its beach party atmosphere and a venue that offers one of the most festive atmospheres of the Summer Games every four years. Rape victims’ advocates and some Olympic officials have said it should have been left at home.

“If an athlete or staff member faced this conviction, they would not be allowed to join our team,” said the head of the Australian delegation, Anna Meares, this week. “We have a number of athletes under 18 and under 16 and so these policies are very effective in protecting our team.”

Van de Velde, now 29, was sentenced to four years in prison after being found guilty of raping a girl he allegedly met online. He served 13 months in prison.

Following his release, the Dutch Olympic Committee announced that Van de Velde met the conditions to return to competitive sport following his conviction and resumed his career in 2017 “after an intensive, professionally supervised process”.

“Van de Velde now meets all qualification requirements for the Olympic Games and is therefore part of the team,” the committee said in a statement.

The International Volleyball Federation said it could not stop the Netherlands from sending Van de Velde to Paris after he qualified through the usual route. Van de Velde, who does not live in the athletes’ village and could not be reached by media, said after securing his Olympic place that the incident was “the biggest mistake of my life.”

“I understand that this may attract international media attention ahead of the biggest sporting event in the world,” he said in a statement on the Dutch Volleyball Association’s website. “I cannot undo it, so I will have to accept the consequences.”

Beach volleyball can be a close-knit community, with players from opposing teams often traveling together and meeting at tournaments from Phuket, Thailand, to Stavanger, Norway, to Recife, Brazil. Van de Velde has been a presence on the international tour for the past two years — it’s how teams earn points toward Olympic qualification — but players who spoke after their matches on Saturday kept their distance.

“First of all, I’d like to say that we don’t condone his actions,” said Australian Mark Nicolaidis. “But other than that, I’ve just finished the game and that’s pretty much all that’s going through my mind at the moment.”

Others declined to comment.

“We’re just focused on doing our best against the teams in front of us,” said American Miles Partain after his Olympic debut on Saturday.

Van de Velde’s performance on Sunday morning at the Eiffel Tower Stadium on the Champ de Mars is likely to put a damper on the party atmosphere that peeked out from between the clouds on the rainy first day at the legendary venue of the 2024 Olympic Games.

The weather could not slow down the men’s tournament favorites, neither from Sweden, who defeated Australia in straight sets, nor from Cuba, who suffered the same fate against Americans Partain and Andy Benesh.

Fans stamped their feet and cheered as the strains of a Parisian accordion echoed across the soggy sand. An announcer kept the crowd entertained as fans huddled under their ponchos and raincoats where the shadow of the Eiffel Tower stood on a sunny day.

Clear skies are expected on Sunday when Van de Velde and Immers face an experienced Italian team.

___

AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games