Australia’s Olympic chief rages after man who raped 12-year-old girl was selected for Paris Games

• Anna Meares: Australia would not nominate a rapist for the Olympics
• Convicted rapist Steven van de Velde has been called up to the national team
• Beach volleyball player was sentenced to four years in prison in 2016

Australia’s Olympic chief Anna Meares says convicted child rapist Steven van de Velde, who is part of the Dutch national beach volleyball team, would never have been selected for the Australian Olympic team.

Van de Velde, 29, was sentenced to prison in March 2016 after pleading guilty to raping a 12-year-old girl when he was 19 years old.

The talented athlete, who met his victim through Facebook, travelled from Amsterdam to the UK and raped the girl.

Van de Velde knew the girl’s age at the time of the attack and his name is still on the British sex offenders’ register.

When announcing the verdict, the judge said his hopes of representing his country were now “a shattered dream”.

The Dutchman served only 12 months of his four-year prison sentence and was called up to the Dutch Olympic team in June.

Meares, the Chef de Mission in Paris, explained that such a selection situation would never arise with the Australian team.

“If an athlete or employee had such a conviction, they would not be allowed to become a member of our team,” Meares said.

“We have strict policies in place to protect our team.”

In the eight years since his release from prison, the 29-year-old’s life has undergone an astonishing transformation.

Not only has Van de Velde been welcomed back into the Dutch volleyball community and put back on his international path, his private life has also developed splendidly.

In 2022, he married a former police officer from Münster who is also a professional beach volleyball player. The couple have a two-year-old son.

It is not known what happened to his victim in recent years. However, when the verdict was announced, the court learned that van de Velde had been self-harming since the incident and had also attempted to take an overdose.

According to the NOC (Dutch Olympic Committee), van de Velde was able to return to volleyball in 2018 after “intensive, professionally supervised development”.

It states: “After his release, he sought and received professional counseling. He demonstrated self-awareness and self-reflection to those around him – both privately and professionally.

“Van de Velde now meets all the qualification requirements for the Olympic Games and is therefore part of the team.”

However, the decision to allow van de Velde to return to the Dutch national beach volleyball team was subject to certain conditions. For example, he is not allowed to train underage girls.

Sources in the Netherlands say the sports star knew his disturbing past would catch up with him when he decided to take part in the Olympics this summer.

In a statement, he said: “I cannot undo what happened, my past cannot be erased. I will accept the consequences. It was the biggest mistake of my life.”