Convicted child rapist Steven van de Velde was booed at the Olympic Games

Members of the crowd booed convicted child rapist Steven van de Velde as his name was announced at the Eiffel Tower Stadium in Paris before his first beach volleyball match of the tournament for the Netherlands.

As he entered the pitch with teammate Matthew Immers, he was loudly booed and heckled by the crowd while others cheered. The Netherlands lost the match 2-1 to Italy.

X, formerly Twitter user @cansadaya80, posted the footage on Sunday morning Central European Time.

Van de Velde, 29, was convicted in 2014 at the age of 19 of raping a 12-year-old girl in Milton Keynes, a city outside London. He was released in 2017 after spending a year in prison in the Netherlands.

According to court testimony, he had flown from Amsterdam to the UK at the age of 19 to meet his victim, a girl he knew who was then 12. The court heard he had gone to the home of the victim, with whom he had communicated on social media before arranging the meeting, while her mother was away, and raped her before flying home.

Van de Velde was later arrested and extradited to the UK, where he was tried and sentenced to four years in prison. He was returned to the Netherlands and re-tried under Dutch law.

His return to sport after his release from prison and subsequent qualification for the Olympic Games was the subject of criticism.

Last week, Paula Radcliffe, a former British marathon world champion, apologised after facing harsh criticism for wishing him “good luck”.

The Dutch Olympic Committee said Van de Velde’s return to sport complied with the guidelines set out in the Dutch Volleyball Federation’s integrity policy, which sets out the conditions for athletes to return to competition after a conviction.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) previously said Newsweek that after qualification, the nomination of individual team members “is the sole responsibility of the respective National Olympic Committee”.

“I understand that this may attract international media attention ahead of the biggest sporting event in the world,” Van de Velde said in a statement posted on the Dutch Olympic Committee’s website. “I cannot undo it, so I will have to face the consequences. It was the biggest mistake of my life.”

The IOC also said it had introduced “the most comprehensive package of mental health and personal protection tools, initiatives and services” to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all participants. It added: “If specific concerns are raised, additional protective measures will be implemented in accordance with standard practice.”